Misuse of Drugs Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-05 ============================================================ Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I thank Senator Costello for highlighting and raising these serious concerns. As the Senator has said, things are changing and trends are changing the whole time. I see it within the drugs strategy section of the Department. First of all, it was really important that the Senator highlighted this. I will give an update on the response to the use of nitrous oxide and the ongoing development of our national drug strategy including its focus on prevention and education for young people of the use of drugs. That is part of the drugs strategy. We are looking at the prevention and awareness. Education will have to play a huge role and that is part of what we are doing within my own remit. Nitrous oxide is a psychoactive substance, and it is already addressed under two pieces of legislation. Section 3 of the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances Act) 2010 states that a person who sells a psychoactive substance, knowing or being reckless as to whether that substance is being acquired or supplied for human consumption, shall be guilty of an offence. So, people cannot be selling it. This is the thing. This is part of the awareness we have to look at. We have to make sure that it is not being sold to children and younger people who it is really affecting. Section 74 of the Child Care Act 1991 states: It shall be an offence for a person to sell, offer or make available a substance to a person under the age of eighteen years, or to a person acting on behalf of that person if he knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the substance is, or its fumes are, likely to be inhaled by that person under the age of eighteen years for the purpose of causing intoxication. That is what it is. You cannot sell it to, and it is illegal to sell to, those under the age of 18. It comes under the two Acts I have read out. Responsibility for these do rest with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. That is where this remit lies under health and well-being. I am aware there is significant concern about the rising use of the substance and the illegal importation of canisters at our ports. This issue was brought up on many occasions recently. It was discussed in the Dáil quite recently. The Minister for justice has indicated that this will be looked at in closer detail in the coming months by his Department. I look forward to engaging with the Minister for justice on this. I can assure the Senator that the Minister is very much aware of this in our ports as well. That absolutely has to be addressed. In the meantime, the HSE and various community groups are monitoring the situation and are responding to the rise in its use. We are doing this as well. Through public awareness campaigns, harm reduction advice and engagement with at-risk groups, we are now working to minimise the very real health risks, including nerve damage. We are very much aware of the nerve damage. As a key part of this approach the HSE has a harm reduction fact sheet, detailing risks, effects, and advice, for drug and alcohol task forces, student unions, and at festivals. We are trying to target through health and well-being the areas that we feel we need to. This is available in local health services, through drug task forces and online. Parents are also supported with information through various sources, including the drugs.ie website, dedicated fact sheets, and a series of webinars. There are a lot of webinars going on. Maybe we need to make sure that people are aware that these are happening and we need to maybe get more communication out on this. The HSE’s website, drugs.ie , and its social media channels provide content that is informative, helpful and shareable. It gives them advice. The HSE social media team responds directly to people’s questions about substances - if they have a question they get them answered - through direct messages on all channels. They are answered through the HSE. I would encourage anyone who may be using nitrous oxide or anyone who has a loved one who may be using this substance to engage with the HSE or its drug and alcohol helpline to get confidential support and advice. This is about the awareness and information about what can happen and what the long-term effects are. Within my own remit under health and well-being that is what we are doing. I thank the Senator for raising this. It is very important. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-05/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-05