Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Lynn Ruane (IND), University of Dublin

I should have said at the outset that I miscommunicated with my office when submitting other amendments. I have no interest in moving those amendments when we get to them. On section 3, I understand and accept the way in which I am going about it, but it is so associated with Garda powers that it is hard to separate them sometimes. It is important that we say that decriminalisation around the world has not increased drug use, nor has it decreased it. That is not its intended purpose. We need to not confuse the differences between policy harms and harms related to the drugs themselves, because they are two different things. Nobody who looks to decriminalise the person, not even the drug, is going to call people a criminal because they have a substance misuse issue or because they were found in possession of a small amount of drugs going into a festival with no intent to supply. What we really intend to talk about is that person.
If a relation that the Minister loved came to him and said that they smoke weed and think they are experiencing psychosis, I guarantee with my whole heart that the Minister will not ring the police on him. He is not doing that. Why would he accept the Garda powers in relation to it? The Minister might say he knows a good health professional or, if the relative is young enough, that he knows a youth worker who works specifically on substance use, and looks at how we reduce that. He is not saying that he knows the best place for his relative is in front of a judge. When we accept that premise, it is not saying that some substance use is not harmful, but asking where the best place is to deal with that. It is not in handcuffs.
That is to be clear about the intention. The global commission and UN treaty are all trying to figure out how they row back on the implications of what they have done for us with regard to the drugs Act and Garda powers. I will finish the conversation because I accept the way in which I am having it is not the space, but I ask the Minister to acknowledge, in his own time, though not now, that he is not ringing the police if someone he loves and cares about is in possession. He is ringing somebody he knows can help them. That is what decriminalisation is. That is about how we meet somebody with compassion and care, and create opportunities for connection, compassion and health intervention, and do not leave them with the drugs. People will not ring the police on someone they love. If we can accept that is how we would approach it, we would realise that putting someone in front of a judge is not the answer, so when we talk about decriminalisation, we are sticking to evidence. Whatever about what The New York Times has said, all the evidence from all the experts is that drugs policy often does more harm in the end to the person than the substance itself. I will not press it any further. Obviously the conversation is ongoing in Ireland, and we will continue to have it.
Nobody is denying that, in some instances, substance use can be harmful. It is just acknowledging that the way in which we approach it is not in front of a judge.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10