I wish to acknowledge the Health Research Board's publication on the national drug treatment reporting system, which was just announced this morning.

Drug treatment and the demand for such is currently increasing year on year, with the total number treated to date being 15,422. However, this morning's report highlights that cocaine now accounts for 42% of the drug problem, with opioids at 25% and cannabis at 15%. It is now affecting every area of society and in every part of the country. In the past, I called for a discussion on drugs in this Chamber and it is something that is becoming a more important conversation to have. There was a big discussion this morning on RTÉ regarding drug-related intimidation. A recent report by DRIVE stated that every county in the country is experiencing drug-related intimidation at present. As one of the victims on the radio pointed out this morning, there are no receipts or anything like that in this business. When someone comes looking for a debt to be paid, it could be a multiple of what the initial debt was. People on the ground are experiencing not just physical intimidation but also drugs being withheld from them and this is leading to a lot of other crimes.

In recent weeks, I have spoken about online fraud and targeting specific demographics through text messages, emails and all of that, for fraud and trying to relieve people of money. However, all of this is linked, and this money is all going to these actors in the background and we do not know who they are. We need to have a frank conversation in this Chamber. We need to dig a little bit deeper and reinforce the laws behind all of this.

We need to talk openly about drug-related intimidation. It is not just the victims; families, friends, employers and others are being brought into the net. There is a lot of money changing hands. We need to highlight the issue in order that people feel they have someone or somewhere they can go to in the interests of engaging on this issue. We also need to convict some of the those who are chasing people down in relation to this matter. I call for a debate on the matter in the Chamber.