An initiative to "go after the drug barons and take them on", was called for by Mr Tony Gregory (ind, Dublin Central). They remained "untouched" despite recent measures, he said and some of them had moved to Amsterdam.
He supported the Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, who urged the setting up of a national drugs enforcement agency. He said present efforts were fragmented. The problem required a co-ordinated approach.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said her advice was that the best results could be obtained by maximising co-operation between the existing agencies. The situation here was not comparable to the US where there were different policy forces. We had a unified policy force and she believed that a separate national enforcement agency would not be helpful.