I received a very worrying response to parliamentary question this morning outlining the number of people being spiked with drugs without their consent. In 2021 there were 62 incidents reported to the Garda. Last year that nearly doubled to 106. These are only the ones reported to the Garda. Very often they go unreported. Just this week, third level student bodies issued warnings in the lead-up to Rag Week. I am sure the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice will agree with me that spiking a drink is a cowardly act and getting spiked is very frightening for victims. In 2021 there was an awareness campaign and I am asking for that to be repeated. Can it be rolled out to staff in pubs and nightclubs so that they can become aware of the issue? Is there anything else the Government can do to combat this horrendous crime?

The short answer is that it can and should. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I came together on this issue with the Garda and with student unions to roll out an awareness campaign. I now intend to work with the Garda and student unions to do the same again. It is absolutely horrific when this happens to people. It is really important that people are aware. The Deputy is quite right to say that people in the industry need to be aware of their responsibilities and have awareness of the issue.