Micheál Martin has denied Fianna Fáil performed a U-turn on its drug decriminalisation proposals.
The Tánaiste said his party had instead offered a “clarification” that its manifesto pledge to decriminalise the possession of drugs for personal use referred to cannabis, and not harder drugs.
Fianna Fáil Finance minister Jack Chambers clarified the proposal on Tuesday amid criticism from Fine Gael.
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader, Simon Harris, has urged caution over any move to decriminalise drugs, as he suggested the Fianna Fáil proposal risked creating a mixed message over public health.
Urging Fianna Fáil to provide more details on what it planned, Mr Harris said it sounded “counterintuitive” to advocate decriminalisation around the possession of drugs for personal use at the same time the Government was pursing initiatives to tackle smoking and the use of vapes.
On Wednesday, Mr Martin expressed surprise at Fine Gael’s reaction to his party’s proposal. He noted that Fine Gael minister Hildegarde Naughton last year suggested that people caught in possession of a small amount of drugs should not end up in the criminal justice system.
In an interview on Newstalk, it was put to Mr Martin that his party had done a U-turn on its decriminalisation proposal.
“Well, it’s not quite a U turn. I mean it was a clarification,” he replied.
“I’m surprised Fine Gael have come out to attack it, because Hildegarde Naughton said something similar last January, that people shouldn’t have to go through the criminal justice system for personal use.
“I think cannabis is one where we could start this. There has been a good discussion in the Oireachtas for the last four years on the Oireachtas committee (joint committee on drug use), in the Citizens’ Assembly (on drugs use), likewise.
“Having been a former minister for health, understanding addiction over that period and through life itself, my life experience, tells me addiction cannot be solved with a criminal justice system.
“Addiction has to be solved by a health-led approach and rebuilding people’s lives and dealing with addiction, dealing with the source of the addiction, and trying to rebuild people’s lives and their families.
“And I just feel the criminal justice route, that’s over in terms of its efficacy and impact, we have to be much more proactive in terms of a health-led approach.”
Justice minister and Fine Gael deputy leader, Helen McEntee, said gardaí already had the flexibility to show discretion with individuals found in possession of small amounts of drugs.
She urged Fianna Fáil to provide more details around its plans.
“It is already the case that our gardaí can apply some degree of flexibility for certain offences and decide to work with a person and take that health-led approach instead of going down the criminal route,” she told reporters at a Fine Gael event in Dublin on Wednesday.
“And I think it’s really important, particularly if a young person maybe, and it’s a first offence, or they’ve made a mistake, that you provide that pathway for them.
“But I think they (Fianna Fáil) need to be very clear. You know, we have a very clear position by Fianna Fáil about cleaning up our streets and crime and, simply putting in a statement that they’re going to decriminalise drugs without providing any clarity on that, certainly doesn’t tally with what their overall objective is here.
“Our gardaí have said very clearly that they don’t believe it’s the right approach.
“So Fine Gael is very clear, we have a health-led approach, that we do provide that flexibility for our gardaí for certain drug use. But, again, that’s not been made very clear by Fianna Fáil, and I think they should clarify what their proposal and their objective is here.”
