I thank the Chair and welcome my Cork colleague, the Minister, to the House. In dealing with this subject might I set the scene? Drugs are perhaps the greatest threat to the social fabric of our society. Drugs create an underworld which has a subculture of crime, persecution and torment. Our children are easy prey. It is important to understand the torment that is felt by parents and others in dealing with this subject.
In raising the matter, I am conscious of the fact that the incidence of drug smuggling has become increasingly alarming. I fear that the Customs service has not the necessary financial structure or indeed manpower to combat it. Garda reports over the years pinpointed Cork and south Kerry as areas with a tradition of smuggling. There have been finds in Courtmacsherry and £500,000 worth of drugs came ashore in Dublin quite recently. Over the last three years two kilos of cocaine were seized in Ringaskiddy, where a huge quantity of cannabis resin was stored in the roof space of a camper. I am aware that numerous postal packets have been intercepted. In Rosslare, for instance, several major seizures of drugs to the value of £500,000 to £1 million were made following searches of motor vehicles. Dublin Port handles cargo traffic, vessels and a passenger service. I am conscious of Dublin Airport and the trafficking of drugs through that location.
It gives me no pleasure to say this but it is important, as a parent and on behalf of parents, that this matter be raised in the House. There is inadequate Garda cover in west Cork. If one takes a line from Ring Pier in Clonakilty to Kenmare, there is one police car with three to four personnel. The shoreline has hundreds of inlets, numerous islands and there is a high incidence of marine activity. If we look abroad, particularly at EC countries with large coastlines, we see there is a network of coastal patrol which is supplemented by computer backup, aircraft surveillance and helicopters which will take on board a dozen men at a time. They are readily available. Take the Irish Sea, for example. My understanding is that we have one outboard dinghy based in Dublin which is not always available and in wintertime is not readily available to put to sea.
This raises the question of post-1992 and what is known as the European open borders policy. The EC theory is that all physical checks at point of import will be done away with. What is going to happen to passengers, good and vehicles? All we will be left with are spot checks. Will the Customs officials be in a position to mount effective spot checks?
Intelligence must be passed on and the ability to receive, store and distribute information must be of concern. Information must be acted upon effectively. Take the example of somebody flying out to Spain with $100,000 in his pocket. He is allegedly on holiday but is visited by a drug baron, drivers over the border and takes a flight to Frankfurt. From there he travels to Manchester, then to Dublin and from there to Cork. Have we the ability or the sophisticated equipment necessary to monitor the movements of drug barons, or what I would call the fraud-mongers, so that their life threatening arrival in Ireland can be encountered with an effective Customs response?
I understand that 90 per cent of seizures are taking place in this country at the moment. I hope Ireland is not a location for the shipment of drugs. In other words, I hope we are not seen as a soft touch — an easy spot in which to land with a low level of protection when compared to some of our EC partners. Surely our EC partners must be very uneasy at what they have termed as the ineffective response of the Customs service. Customs officers must feel that they face an impossible task. It must be bad for their morale. They need the support of extra resources and manpower and hopefully that manpower will be available post 1992. They also need the support of people who will inform them of unusual activities. In doing so, I would remind them, that would be acting on behalf of their children. If it is their child today; it could be mine tomorrow. Everyone of us, therefore, has a role to play.
It is important to look further afield at the street situation. We must ask ourselves if the drug phenomenon has permeated through society. Has it gone from urban society to rural society? Can it be found on the streets, on roads and on boreens? My contact with teenagers suggests that drugs are very readily available in public houses, in discos and restaurants. How many drug barons are apprehended? How many dealers are brought to task? That leaves us with a certain apprehension and fear for the future. How can these people be allowed to go unapprehended and to desecrate our young and beautiful society? It is the responsibility of the Garda to check the movement of drugs and to combat the sale of drugs. I understand their complaint is that very often when they want to mount or continue surveillance they are diverted into other albeit important areas.
I question the effectiveness of protection and control in restaurants and discos. How readily recognisable are the Drugs Squad? Is there an age barrier between those who protect and uphold the law and those who frequent discos and peddle drugs? My information is that members of the the Drugs Squad are recognisable. In the eyes of some of our EC partners we are seen as not having effective controls. Ireland is seen as a possible transhipment area in relation to other EC cities. That is a case that must be answered.
In the light of 1992 and the European open borders policy, it is in the interests of our EC partners, given our budget constraints, that structural funding through the social policy made available to ensure that we have proper resources, facilities and manpower. As a consequence the detection rate will be higher. That is imperative in an area that demands immediate attention. There must be nothing worse for a parent than a teenager who is hooked on drugs. We talk about the malaise of drink, but what is worse than to see your own child hooked on a drug that was readily available on the street and being able to do absolutely nothing about the scourge of drug taking? If we do not make every possible effort to stamp out smuggling and those people who peddle drugs and ruin the lives and beautiful future of our children, we will have to answer for it.
