Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jun 2016
Source: Sunday Independent (Ireland)
Copyright: 2016 Independent Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  http://www.independent.ie/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/434
Author: Philip Ryan

DECRIMINALISE ALL DRUGS SAYS JUNIOR JUSTICE MINISTER

Stanton Also Wants Traveller Ethnicity Recognised

A NEWLY appointed junior justice minister wants personal possession 
of all illegal drugs to be decriminalised as part of the Government's 
plan to tackle gangland crime.

Minister of State for Equality, Migration and Integration, David 
Stanton, also plans to use his new position to convince Fine Gael 
colleagues to recognise the Travelling Community as a distinct ethnic 
minority group.

Speaking for the first time since taking office, Mr Stanton also 
revealed Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald is supportive of both proposals.

As the former chair of the Oireachtas Justice Committee, the Cork 
East TD produced a report recommending that Ireland should follow the 
Portuguese legal system on possession drugs.

In Portugal, people caught in possession of certain small amounts of 
drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and heroin, are not prosecuted by 
the courts.

Instead, police have the discretion to send drug users for 
counselling or education on the dangers of drugs.

"When we went to Portugal, I was quite in impressed with the whole 
system from start to finish," Mr Stanton told the Sunday Independent.

"The police were very happy about it because it meant they weren't 
tied up in courts. If somebody had a small amount of stuff on them, 
the police chiefs had the discretion to send them to dissuasion 
centres where they had interaction with a social worker, counsellor 
and a legal person," he added.

The minister said his report on decriminalising drugs was submitted 
last year to Ms Fitzgerald and he believes she accepted the findings 
"positively".

Mr Stanton said he will be urging his colleagues, including new 
junior minister with responsibility for drugs policy, Catherine 
Byrne, to have "an open mind" to the possibility of decriminalising drugs.

In his capacity as equality minister, the long serving Fine Gael TD 
believes it is time the travelling Community's "distinct history and 
culture" is recognised by the State.

Mr Stanton said he wants to become a "persuader" who will convince 
colleagues reticent about the idea of giving special recognition to 
Travellers as a minority group.

"Some people say 'Travellers are Irish, they are no different to me, 
they shouldn't have a different ethnic recognition' - and there are 
others who say 'they have culture, they have a history, they have a 
language, they have music'," he said. "I want to capture that 
culture. There is a certain richness there," he added.

Again, he believes the Tanaiste is supportive of the idea and 
Taoiseach Enda Kenny is also open to bringing such a proposal to the 
floor of the Dail.

"It's something we need to have a national debate about. I want to 
become a persuader on this - and I want everyone to work together on 
it," he said.

Officially recognising Travellers as a minority group would have no 
financial impact on the State and it would not include any additional 
rights, according to the minister.

The Cork East TD also revealed he's committed to drastically 
increasing the speed at which Syrian refugees are relocated in Ireland.

The Government promised to house 4,000 refugees fleeing war-torn 
Syria last year but, to date, little more than 300 have arrived.

The new minister recently agreed to increase the number of refugees 
arriving in Ireland from 40 to 80 every two months.

"We are ready here to receive them but things were not as organised 
as we liked on the other end but we have got that done," he said.

He said another issue is Syrians would prefer to be relocated in 
Germany, Sweden and the UK rather than in Ireland.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom