Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has called on the government to formally designate the forthcoming National Drugs Strategy \u2013 scheduled for publication by the end of 2025 \u2013 as an interim strategy.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon, who chairs the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a profound breach of democratic accountability for the government to publish a definitive drugs strategy before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drug Use has completed its work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis committee is central to the political and parliamentary response to the Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Drug Use. Its work is ongoing, with a final report due in June 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat report will represent cross-party consensus, inclusive stakeholder engagement, and evidence-informed recommendations. To press ahead with a full strategy in advance of that process would completely undermine the democratic role of the legislature.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the government moves ahead with a definitive strategy now, the committee\u2019s recommendations would not be considered until a mid-term review, most likely not until 2028.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would mean the voices of parliamentarians, civil society, service providers, and people with lived experience \u2013 those who were promised a meaningful role in shaping drug policy \u2013 would be sidelined for years. That is not acceptable. It risks disconnecting national policy from the deliberative and inclusive process mandated by the Oireachtas.<\/p>\n
\u201cDesignating the 2025 strategy as interim is the only credible way forward. It will allow space for genuine engagement while the committee completes its work. It ensures the final strategy reflects both the democratic mandate of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly and the expertise already gathered through the Department\u2019s consultation process. Anything else would be an affront to the democratic process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not without precedent. The 2009-2016 National Drugs Strategy was designated as interim during a similar period of transition and reform. Minister Jennifer Murnane O\u2019Connor, who has responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, must now act with the same level of accountability and responsiveness. That is the very least the participants of the Citizens\u2019 Assembly expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarlier this week, I spoke on this issue at the Fergus McCabe Summer School in Grangegorman, which was hosted by the Citywide Drugs Crisis Campaign. Fergus dedicated his life to ensuring that communities most impacted by drugs were heard and respected. It is in that same spirit that I am calling on the government to safeguard the democratic process and ensure the new strategy does not silence those voices once again.\u201d<\/p>\n
September 3, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has called on the government to formally designate the forthcoming National Drugs Strategy \u2013 scheduled for publication by the end of 2025 \u2013 as an interim strategy. Deputy Gannon, who chairs the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use, said: \u201cIt would be a profound breach of democratic accountability for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[733,316,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drug-use","category-gary-gannon","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n