Ministers insist they back previous drugs decriminalisation recommendations

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and James Lawless reiterated support for the measure, despite reservations expressed by Simon Harris and Jim O’Callaghan

Now the health minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was the vice chair of the Oireachtas justice committee in December 2022 when it recommended drug decriminalisation for personal use. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and higher education minister James Lawless have insisted that they both still back the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use.

This is despite Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fáil justice minister Jim O’Callaghan expressing reservations on the proposal.

Mr Lawless was chairperson of the Oireachtas justice committee in December 2022 when it recommended drug decriminalisation for personal use, while Ms Carroll MacNeill was vice-chairperson.

Mr Harris and Mr O’Callaghan both urged caution against the proposals last week after the Oireachtas committee on drug use made the same recommendation.

Mr O’Callaghan said that the Government must be “careful in terms of any law changes or any proposals which would increase the incidence of drug taking”.

The Tánaiste, meanwhile, told the Dáil that while he supports people in addiction accessing healthcare, he had concerns about "middle Ireland" facilitating gangland crime by “snorting coke, popping pills, and smoking joints”.

As part of the last Government, the Oireachtas Justice Committee published a report in December 2022 on “sanctions for possession of certain amounts of drugs for personal use”.

The committee was chaired by Mr Lawless, with Ms Carroll MacNeill serving as vice-chair. She became a minister just weeks after the report was published, while Mr Lawless was appointed junior transport minister in June 2024.

22 recommendations on drug policy

The report contained 22 recommendations. This included a recommendation that “a policy of decriminalisation is pursued, in line with emerging international best practice, in respect of the possession of drugs for personal consumption, through appropriate legislation reform, in favour of a health-led approach to problem drug use”.

It also “acknowledged the harms associated with pursuing a criminal justice-led approach to drug use and misuse and recommends that a health-led approach is prioritised in both policy and practice”.

The report noted how the committee had heard that “criminalisation may impact on harm reduction and better interventions for drug usage”, that criminal conviction is stigmatising, and the “use of criminal justice system for simple possession is disproportionate”. It also noted that there were arguments against decriminalisation.

However, the justice committee did ultimately recommend the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use.

A spokesperson for Mr Lawless confirmed to the Irish Examiner that “he does still agree with the recommendation”. Ms Carroll MacNeill also confirmed she still agrees with the recommendation. She said: 

I believe in a health-led approach because we want people to be well and to recover from addiction. 

Speaking last week, she added that the Oireachtas committee report on drugs, published last week, “made recommendations around essentially the legalisation of drugs, and I just don't support that”.

“That is not something that's going to progress while I'm the minister for health,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.

Gary Gannon, chair of the Oireachtas drug use committee, told the Irish Examiner that Ms Carroll MacNeill and Mr Lawless should talk to their Cabinet colleagues.

“It shows [they] have listened to the evidence and have made a clear distinction between the fearmongering and the evidence,” he said.

“Simon Harris and Jim O'Callaghan need to stop moralising and start engaging with the lived experience and the expertise that this committee listened to, as did the committee that was led by our own cabinet colleagues.”

• Louise Burne, Political Correspondent