Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I am happy to accept that point. I thought that was clearly the point I was making. However, as I said to Deputy Gannon last night, the reason I am opposed to this recommendation is the same reason that British Columbia, which introduced decriminalisation of drugs for personal use in 2021, and Oregon, which introduced it in 2020, are now reversing those measures. The reason these jurisdictions are now reversing those measures relates to a point the Oireachtas committee made in its report, which is that one of the consequences of decriminalising drugs for personal use is that you will see wider use of drugs in public places. In fairness to the Oireachtas committee, it said that. The report goes on to say that, in order to deal with that, local authorities need to play a role. However, as I mentioned last night, the effect of that policy would be that you would see more drug-taking in public. I have a responsibility not only to the people who are taking drugs, but also to the majority of the population who do not take drugs, particularly children. If it was the case that the law the Senator is advocating was introduced and if there were people taking heroin outside a school or snorting cocaine in a public park, there would be nothing gardaí could do about it. You could not go up to a person, tell them to move on and ask them not to take heroin outside of a primary school. There would be nothing gardaí could do. I have respect for what the Oireachtas committee has said but I did not want to fool Deputy Gannon or Senator Higgins as to my views, which are the views I expressed last night and that I am now expressing here. I am conscious that there is a much bigger debate to be had about the decriminalisation of drugs. I have no doubt that debate will be held in this House and the other House.
To return to the amendment, there is nothing in it that is inconsistent with the recommendation of the Oireachtas committee report, even if I did support it. This amendment seeks to give statutory recognition to the Garda presumptive drug testing that goes on at present and that operates in courts. If it is put on a statutory basis, the system will become more efficient.
Ultimately, while many people do plead guilty, if people are not pleading guilty, there needs to be some mechanism to determine what, in fact, the substance is.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02