GARDAÍ HAVE BEEN given the discretion to refer a person found in possession of a small amount of drugs to the health services to avoid a prosecution, however they will still be liable to criminal penalties under a new drugs strategy.

Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has defended the decision not to decriminalise personal drug use, despite a report from an Oireachtas committee calling for it to be implemented.

The Joint Committee on Drugs Use’s final report backs the repeal of Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977, and said the proposed change should apply to all substances.

However, Murnane O’Connor described the changes under the new National Drugs Strategy 2026–2030 as a “health-led” approach.

The decision was criticised by Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon who said the new strategy “throws out” years of cross-party work and civic consultation.

He said that the three separate cross-party Oireachtas committee reports recommended decriminalising personal drug use.

Murnane O’Connor said the health-led approach will be a referral system.

“If you were caught with a very small amount of drugs for personal use, you will then be led to the gardaí to what will be a health-led approach,” she said at the launch of the strategy.

“We only launched this on 1 September, but we are saying to people, look, we want to give people that chance if they want to. We want to make sure that if you were caught with a very small amount of drugs and you can take a health-led approach, that we are there working with our gardaí, working with the justice system.

“It will be the gardaí then, after they – if they look at the health-led approach – will make the decision going forward.

“But we need to do this, and I think going forward, this is very proactive of us as government to do this and see how that goes.”

She added: “We are going to review it after the year, so we will look at again a few months’ time to see how it’s working. Maybe do we need to change it a bit. But we are open to that too.”

The Fianna Fáil minister did not confirm the amount that would be considered for personal use, but said gardaí will be given that discretion.

“That will be up to the gardaí. So, when the gardaí finds someone with a small amount of drugs for personal use, then that will be up to them to decide whether they need to take a health led approach,” she added.

“If it’s first time, of course, and I think that’s important, if it’s first time, if you’ve gotten drugs for personal use for first time, then it will be led through, as I said, with our gardaí. They will put you in what will be the health led approach, which is really important.

“Then after that, as we said, it’s up to the gardaí then on a second time, and they will then have that choice if they want to look at it this way.

“First of all, we don’t want anyone taking drugs or anyone caught with drugs.

“But what we are just saying is, if you are caught first time with a small amount of drugs for personal use, then your gardaí will make that decision.

“But we will not be making drugs legal. We absolutely will take the health-led approach.”

Gannon, however, was critical of the government’s decision to retain criminal penalties for personal possession.

“We have now had three separate cross-party Oireachtas committee reports, in 2022, 2024 and 2026, all recommending the decriminalisation of drugs for personal use,” he said.

“This conclusion was reached following extensive engagement with experts, frontline services and people directly affected by our drugs laws.

“Current Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeil was vice-chair of the Justice Committee that recommended decriminalisation four years ago and has reaffirmed her support for that recommendation since, yet the government’s remains set on retaining criminal penalties for personal possession.

“Why, four years and three committee reports later, is this government unwilling to implement this legislative change? The new referral scheme leaves criminal penalties firmly in place.”