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A discarded needle on the streets of Dublin. Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

Those big plans for injection centres and decriminalisation could now be reversed

The warning has come from the outgoing Drugs Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.

MOVES TO OPEN a supervised injection centre in Dublin and decriminalise the possession of small quantities of drugs like cannabis could be reversed, the outgoing Drugs Minister has warned.

Late last year, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin announced plans to introduce medically supervised injection centres in Dublin where drug users could go to inject themselves. He predicted the first could be opened within a year.

The former Labour TD also gave a groundbreaking speech in London in which he backed decriminalising the possession of small amounts of drugs such as cannabis.

However Ó Ríordáin lost his Dáil seat last month and will no longer hold responsibility for drugs strategy once a new government is formed.

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He’s admitted in an interview with TheJournal.ie that he has “no idea” what happens to the plans he had set in train, but said he is “convinced that decriminalisation is the only way to go in terms of drugs reform and drugs policy”.

“I tried to push the agenda as much as I possibly could, tried to push the envelope out and say: ‘Look, this is something that is happening internationally,’” he said.

This is my view of how we should approach this area, it just makes logical sense to me that we don’t criminalise those in addiction.

Last year, the cabinet approved amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Bill which allow for the establishment of supervised injection centres, but the legislation has not yet been introduced in the Dáil or Seanad.

Ó Ríordáin warned that any new health minister could take this provision out of the bill if there is “political pressure”.

A new minister for health could just take it out if they wanted because the political pressure from within the system to maintain it may be too thorny, people mightn’t want to go with it.

Fine Gael, which is likely to be part of the next government, said nothing in its manifesto on the issue of decriminalisation and the party did not respond to a request for comment on the issue during the campaign.

At a previous party Ard Fheis, Fine Gael members voted down a motion to legalise the use, sale and production of cannabis.

screenshot.1458844503.419 www.thejournal.ie www.thejournal.ie

Ó Ríordáin said he believes the current Health Minister Leo Varadkar is committed to the injection centre idea and “has an interest” in decriminalisation.

He said: “I would hope that in whatever formation of government comes out that there will be a dedicated minister for drugs, and if that person is appointed then I think that person should take on that campaign [to decriminalise]. I think it can be won.”

The former Labour TD said he favours the oft-cited Portuguese model.

While it is still an offence in Portugal to possess illegal drugs, it is now treated as a civil or administrative matter in cases where a person is found with a quantity of up to 10 days’ supply for personal use.

Drug overdose deaths in Portugal are the second-lowest in the European Union. Among Portuguese adults, there are three drug overdose deaths for every one million citizens. The EU average is 17.3 per million.

screenshot.1458844748.41857 www.thejournal.ie www.thejournal.ie

Ó Ríordáin said: “Look at the 20,000 people who suffer from heroin abuse in Ireland and the fact that in Portugal they’ve cut the number of people dying from heroin overdoses in half over 15 years.

We can actually save thousands of lives by this initiative over the course of whatever number of years.

The former Dublin Bay North deputy said there is still “an awful lot of convincing” to be done, pointing to the confusion in the debates around decriminalisation that he has taken part in.

“I was on Prime Time on RTÉ and I was asked about about this idea of legalising drugs. I said that’s actually not my position, my position is decriminalisation, it’s very very different,” he said. 

“So I think the language and the terminology is still out there to be won, before we might actually introduce it, but the stats and the research backs it up. It’s not about decriminalisation of drugs it’s about decriminalisation of the individual.”

Read: Where do Ireland’s political parties stand on decriminalising cannabis?

Read: Most men think decriminalising drugs is a good idea – but women aren’t so sure

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51 Comments
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    Mute Jack Falltrades
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:06 PM

    Shouldn’t journalists be chasing elected officials and asking them exactly what is going on with regards to the future running of this country?
    Why are former politicians such as this lad, ahern, Dempsey etc getting so much air time these days??

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    Mute Johnny A
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    Mar 28th 2016, 8:09 AM

    Dempsey is put on by FF to fly a kite – bas

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    Mute Johnny A
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    Mar 28th 2016, 8:11 AM

    *basically to float a few ideas on behalf of the party but are not officially from the party.

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    Mute Paul Radburn
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:51 PM

    Why does country continue to be backward?

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    Mute Marc Euclio O'Connell
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    Mar 27th 2016, 11:53 PM

    By proposing forward-thinking drugs legislation?

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    Mute Darren Burke
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:08 PM

    Funny, he had five years in government to actually implement this policy (which is very badly needed) but chose not to even mention it until the election was around the corner. Is there another possible election on the way does anyone know?

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    Mute Barry Davidson
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:17 PM

    In fairness he wasn’t the minister for Durgs until near the end.

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    Mute Michael Flanagan
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    Mar 27th 2016, 10:40 PM

    To be fair that’s bollox, he was taking about it long before, you can’t push through this kinda of thing. It’s not just something legal it’s only about changing people’s attitudes, which in Irish TD-land that can take a while!

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    Mute That's Bo!!ox
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    Mar 27th 2016, 11:09 PM

    Hey, don’t drag me into this!

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    Mute anthony campion
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    Mar 28th 2016, 1:42 AM

    Yeah, you obviously don’t know government works and how long legislation like this would take to get through, because even you must see the amount of opposition there would be

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    Mute Al Ca
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:08 PM

    But If I get voted to the Seanad I tried to abolish…I could chase it up.

    155
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    Mute Marc Power
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:40 PM

    For goodness sake people do drugs. ..criminalisation helps nobody but criminals. Legalise and tax it and behave like adults rather than ostriches

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:07 PM

    A member of liebour still talking. Why?

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    Mute Moderate Michael
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:35 PM

    Great news. We shouldn’t have to subsidise junkies.

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    Mute liam
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:40 PM

    How are injection centres subsidisation? Anything that’s get them and their works off the streets around town has my support.

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    Mute Moderate Michael
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:42 PM

    Providing services to junkies to help then take heroin is subsidising them.

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    Mute liam
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:45 PM

    Not really what subsidising means to be fair. Anyway, why should drugs be illegal in any manner? A crime committed where the only injured party is the perpetrator, not entirely dissimilar from our previous criminalisation of suicide. Supreme Court in 1965 that we have the right to bodily integrity, yet I cannot dictate what I put into my own body.

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    Mute stopit
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:46 PM

    @Moderate Michael

    there is evidence to show that it can be more cost effective than continuing with the failed policies and approaches we’ve be using to date.

    that is the whole point.

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    Mute Barry Davidson
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:05 PM

    It’s not really helping them to do it, it’s more about stopping them doing where we don’t want. Like prisons; are they subsidising?

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    Mute Brendan McGill
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:53 PM

    In fairness to the man, aside from them allowing us to vote in the referendum for marriage equality, this was the only piece of legislation that seemed to be progressive and forward thinking to come out of the last government, in my opinion anyway.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Mar 27th 2016, 10:03 PM

    You’re right Brendan, this was a very progressive piece of legislation, no matter what you think of the man or his party.

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    Mute Daniel Curtin
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    Mar 27th 2016, 10:15 PM

    So Michael you think it’s better to pay a cop, a judge, a lawyer, a prison guard out of our taxes to handle one juckie when the job could be done with one counselor, it’s because of the backwards thinking of people like you that this country is in the state it’s in

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    Mute Aisling Rivera
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    Mar 27th 2016, 10:34 PM

    The theory behind it fyi is ti get them in the door, let them shoot up, build up trust and a relationship with them, and then put a family support/intervention in place to help them get off drugs, get back to work, and resume paying taxes so that people like you are satisfied that your not being hard done by. Namaste ✌️

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    Mute Brendan McGill
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    Mar 27th 2016, 11:02 PM

    Totally agree Dermot, I can’t stand Labour, but credit where it’s due

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    Mute GameOverMan
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    Mar 28th 2016, 12:14 AM

    One step forward, three steps backwards… these progressive promises are always rife in an election year.

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    Mute Niall Monk Carry
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    Mar 28th 2016, 6:49 AM

    Good girl! Nicely put. Somebody who gets it here. Spot on!!

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    Mute Assel Dannourah
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:44 PM

    These idiots make fake policy in order to lure prospective voters to vote for him, he didn’t get voted for so the policy also didn’t get voted for

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    Mute Peter Fechter
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:54 PM

    Poor old amadhan…he never did have much credibility…and it galls me that he and his FG/liebour accomplices got the prime seats and got to preside over todays events…for all posterity..in 100 years people will view them as patriots.

    83
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    Mute anthony campion
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    Mar 28th 2016, 2:55 AM

    So you don’t mind that Donie Cassidy had a prime seat though good man yerslf

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    Mute anthony campion
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    Mar 28th 2016, 2:57 AM

    Do you don’t mind that Donie Cassidy had a prime seat just behind two former presidents of did you even cop that, probably not

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    Mute dominick mitchell
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:35 PM

    Thus is a non story is he not gone. ???

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    Mute Liamog
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    Mar 28th 2016, 12:42 AM

    He just wants headlines with the seanad elections coming up

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    Mute Kathleen Kavanagh
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    Mar 28th 2016, 12:59 AM

    Come visit here in Vancouver BC all has been said done here and it’s a mess worsened does not work these people need help taken off the streets assessed – would hate to see like Vancouver a constant rerun of the walking zombies. Careful Government!what you implement will be hard to undo.

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    Mute Niall Monk Carry
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    Mar 28th 2016, 6:45 AM

    I live in Vancouver and I work with the homeless community and plenty of our clients use insite. You obviously don’t have a notion what you’re talking about. It has significantly brought down the number of overdose related deaths in Vancouver since it opened. They have counselors and intervention workers that build up a rapport with the most hard to reach drug users who otherwise would never contemplate getting clean and they help getting to resources to get clean. You can’t just take a junkie off the street and assess them. There is a steady flow of homeless people who come to Vancouver from all over. Most of the people you see on the streets aren’t just drug users they have poorly maintained mental health coupled with hard drug use and its the law here in BC that is the problem since Riverview was shut down years back. In site is rough but its a beneficial service that does work. I work in the field and if you think otherwise I’d question what or how much you know about drug users in Vancouver

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    Mute Kathleen Kavanagh
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    Mar 28th 2016, 7:21 AM

    Downtown Vancouver streets are slowly being taken over by junkies and mental health don’t kid yourself ! of course you have to protect your job. Take that Gregor Roberts Mayor out for a stroll in most parts of the downtown core and have him dodge this. Drugs Lead to Mental Health issues. Don’t insult the common city people that have to go around areas to be safe because they are taking over. We have had Main & Hastings for decades in a mess and no sign of the Government helping these people – Vancouver is so very slow/cheap to spend and will never change.

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    Mute Timber Planks
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    Mar 28th 2016, 9:04 AM

    Kathleen you clearly have quite a one sided view on this. I would have to agree more with Niall on this one. And one thing you need to understand is that Main and Hastings is not a place for all the drug users for the city of Vancouver and surrounding areas. It’s for the entire west of Canada. I’ve worked over huge stretches of Canada and you never see such homelessness until you go to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Most of the west of Canada
    is simply too cold to be homeless in so they all go to Vancouver. So to say Vancouver has screwed up their drugs policy is just wrong. First of all it would actually be a British Columbia provincial drugs policy and second of all Vancouver itself is accounting for most of the homeless people from across the three provinces of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. If you don’t like it so much there are plenty of places you can live where you see virtually no homeless people or drug users.

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    Mute Kathleen Kavanagh
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    Mar 28th 2016, 4:12 PM

    You and Niall are typical Canadians – don’t lecture us on stats etc .. You go ahead and continue to protect your pay checks – Vancouver has a major problem and has no idea how to clean this up as for the many decades – I have visitors that come on and it’s sad I have to constantly say can’t go down there etc.. Etc…due to this issue and to be honest were not to impressed about Vancouver and all the hype. So easy to tell someone to leave if they don’t like it so Canadian..it is only getting worse moron.

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    Mute Micheal Brunswick
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:52 PM

    The only solution is to put these illegal drug using degenerates behind bars without any assistance in kicking their habit. Cold turkey. Solitary confinement if they cause a ruckus.

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    Mute Dermot Lane
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    Mar 27th 2016, 10:08 PM

    And then when they’ve served their time, what? Put them back on the streets with no backup program or treatment? Prohibition has never worked. The war on drugs is a failure, in every country, even those who execute smugglers.

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    Mute TDV
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    Mar 28th 2016, 11:24 AM

    It’s easier to get drugs in prison and harder to avoid them!

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    Mute Stephen Fitzgerald
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    Mar 28th 2016, 1:08 AM

    Thank god he’s gone

    19
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    Mute Orla Conway
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    Mar 27th 2016, 11:11 PM

    @Michael Brunswick clearly you have no idea what its like to have someone suffer from addiction . . . making an ignorant statement like that.

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    Mute dominick mitchell
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:38 PM

    This ….sorry …b4 d grammer police get wind of ett.

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    Mute Del Haven
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    Mar 27th 2016, 8:47 PM

    You needn’t have bothered

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    Mute Noah Wilson
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    Mar 27th 2016, 9:59 PM

    “It’s not about decriminalisation of drugs it’s about decriminalisation of the individual.”
    Same thing.

    11
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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Mar 28th 2016, 2:35 AM

    Stop injecting drugs into your body. It’s so so harmful. Please don’t do it.
    If someone is seen injecting they should be arrested immediately, strip searched, and be put in some sort of detox, t total detention centre for a week as punishment and for their own safety. Dumped back out where they were arrested a week later.
    Giving people needles and advice, with a safe place to go, isn’t going to stop drug addiction.

    10
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    Mute Mike Fahey
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    Mar 28th 2016, 1:31 AM

    I wish our politicians were brave and just took on ‘thorny’ issues. Stop pussy-footing around the issue, have an open and frank discussion and just make a fast, informed decision.

    10
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    Mute Larry L'Oiseau
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    Mar 28th 2016, 10:06 AM

    ‘Groundbreaking speech’ ?????

    A private citizen who used to be a mediocre junior minister says something and it is considered a groundbreaking speech ??

    Wtf?

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    Mute Niall Monk Carry
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    Mar 28th 2016, 6:56 AM

    I live in Vancouver huge homeless mental health drug problem here. I work with that community of people. In site is a safe injection site. It’s simple clean needles, safe injection lowers costs on health services, lowers overdose deaths, lowers passing viruses. These are the real hardcore hard to reach population. Place intervention workers, on site nurses, counselors build up a relationship for when there’s a window of opportunity for a referral to a detox or drug treatment etc…so the worst users have a chance to reintegrate back to society. It’s proven again and again intervention costs less and saves money overall. I’d love to see Ireland set an example. I think Switzerland has one?

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    Mute Willy
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    Mar 28th 2016, 9:01 AM

    Liebour…

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    Mute Mr Grumble
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    Mar 28th 2016, 5:02 AM

    Shame

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