LABOUR TD KENNY RAISES DRUG CRIME WITH GARDA COMMISSIONER AT OIREACHTAS JUSTICE COMMITTEE

Posted on December 1, 2011 4:50 PM   |   Permanent Link   

During a presentation on Community Policing by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to the Oireachtas Justice committee this morning, committee member and Dublin North East Labour TD Sean Kenny raised with the Commissioner the concerns of his constituents regarding the recent increase in drugs searches and drug finds in the Coolock Garda District as reported to a local Safety Forum earlier this week.

The Commissioner in his response stated that the drug problem was "not moving away", he also stated that while cocaine was the recreational drug of choice during the boom and heroin had decreased in use, cannabis was very much a prevalent drug and that heroin was starting to become an issue again. He also stated that while Head Shops had been closed there was a rise in the number of "Grow Houses".

"I call on the Minister for Justice, as well as An Garda Siochána, to ensure that despite the economic crisis, communities are protected from the scourge of drugs, and its associated criminality, by stronger policing in local communities, to better enable those communities to ensure that the scourge of drugs is kept at bay" he concluded.