Cocaine is in “every large workplace” in Ireland – including the Dáil, according to Labour TD Alan Kelly.
The former party leader suggested cocaine is being used in Leinster House yesterday during questions on policy and legislation.
He said a “health-led approach” was needed to help people seeking treatment for drug use.
The TD said cocaine is “everywhere in society”.
“It is in every corner of Ireland now. It is in every sporting club. I imagine it is in here,” he said.
Speaking on The Hard Shoulder today, Deputy Kelly said cocaine is in “every corner of Ireland”.
“Leinster House is a workplace,” he said.
“Do I think TDs and senators are on cocaine? No, I don’t - but it’s a large workplace and I think it's in every large workplace in the country now.
“We have to face up to that.”
Deputy Kelly said he was seeking to “get a narrative change” on cocaine use in Ireland following his comments yesterday.
“In the middle classes of Ireland upon which majority of people have classed themselves, there's a large number of people who in some way believe it's okay to take cocaine,” he said.
“You'd nearly get the A to Z of lectures on everything else, on every issue from some of these people - but at the same time, they are participating in an industry and taking cocaine socially at weekends.”
He said sporting organisations in particular seem to have an issue of ‘health-conscious’ people replacing the hangover and calories of alcohol with cocaine.
'Narrative' around cocaine
Sporting organisations such as the GAA should “come together to lead a campaign for a narrative change” around cocaine, according to Deputy Kelly.
“People are blasé towards it,” he said. “I know, unfortunately, of many people whose families have been wrecked by this.
“I know many young people, women and men, who have ended up in addiction centres.
“There are many others still struggling with it and building up debts.”
He said criminal groups leading the black market now ‘seeps all the way down’ to people’s social lives.
“It's appalling what has gone on in Ireland in relation to criminal gangs,” he said.
“It's appalling, the hurt and impact it's having on so many communities... that’s why we need a narrative change.
“I don’t want my 14-year-old daughter [and] my nearly 13-year-old son growing up in a society where cocaine and its use is accepted.”
Between 2017 and 2023 there was a 388% surge in women seeking drug treatment for cocaine, rising from 284 cases in 2017 to 1,387 cases in 2023.
In 2023, 13,104 cases were treated for problem drug use - the highest annual number recorded and an increase of more than 1,000 cases compared to 2022.
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