Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

Yes, we are. We are moving to a situation in respect of presumptive drug testing, which may have taken place and may not have had an evidentiary basis in courts, but may have had a health purpose. As regards that purpose, it is not simply that it is said it is a free-for-all and anything can be done. We can debate whether decriminalisation for possession, etc., will be part of it but what there has been is a very clear call for a health-led approach. We are now moving towards a situation whereby there will be greater apprehension about engaging with the Garda in terms of drug testing, even, potentially, for those who may have been drugged, because there is a question as regards possession if you are wondering and wanting to know. There is possession and there are issues and questions. There have been health-testing measures in the past where people were able to check and know what substances might be illegal. With all of those health-led measures, there is the creation of a further bar against the use. That is why, in my opening commentary, I said there is not necessarily opposition to community-based drugs testing on a presumptive basis because it can play a role in health-led interventions and a health-led approach to supporting people to move away from drug use. However, what the Minister is talking about is that the tests administered by gardaí would now become evidence. The language the Minister used was that this was to facilitate and speed up prosecutions.
The Minister said there must be a system. There is currently a system. The current system is that Forensic Science Ireland does the test. That is the bar that applies on personal possession and to a find of a supply worth €100,000. Forensic Science Ireland is mandated to do this. It has the expertise and conducts the test. What the Minister is now saying is that those who are apprehended for possession can be prosecuted on the basis of a Garda test, whereas those prosecuted for other offences will still be going through Forensic Science Ireland. That is a disjoin. The Garda presumptive testing can be used as evidence of possession and Forensic Science Ireland's testing can only be used in relation to a more serious drug offence.
It is not a case of saying there must be some system. There is a system. The Minister is trying to introduce a new, wider system and, to use his own language, it is to facilitate and speed up prosecutions for possession. That points to a signal not only that the Minister believes there is merit in retaining the offence under section 3, but that there is a desire to accelerate and increase prosecutions under it and freeze up a lot of time for Forensic Science Ireland. The message, we were told, is that we do not do an awful lot of prosecutions. Is Forensic Science Ireland so under-resourced that it cannot deal with that? Would it perhaps be a good approach to give an extra staff member to Forensic Science Ireland if the volume of prosecutions under section 3 is so huge? There are other approaches if the Minister is concerned about the capacity of Forensic Science Ireland, one of which is to increase its capacity.
The point is the Minister is introducing a new form of evidence that applies only to one form of drug offence and it happens to be the form of drug offence where there are concerns that its overuse has made it more difficult for a health-led approach to drug use. Many of us would want to see such an approach introduced so that people are facilitated to move away from drug use.

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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