We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Updated 6.15pm
THE DÁIL IS to sit late tonight to pass emergency legislation in order to reclassify certain drugs, including ecstasy and magic mushrooms, as illegal following a court ruling this morning which has temporarily made them legal.
A ruling in the Court of Appeal on the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 this morning effectively means that the possession of certain drugs, which had been illegal, is currently legal.
The court ruling found that the 1977 Act was being added to via ministerial order without recourse to the Oireachtas, in violation of article 15 of the Constitution.
Ministerial orders had been used nine times since the Act’s inception to outlaw the possession of drugs like ecstasy, ketamine, magic mushrooms, benzos and other drugs.
TheJournal Politics / Twitter. @campaignforleo statement on the temporary legalisation of ecstasy (among other drugs) pic.twitter.com/tO84E7H8Xf
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) March 10, 2015
Speaking to reporters today, Health Minister Leo Varadkar explained: “It is still the case that the sale, supply, export or import of such substances remains illegal, even now today.”
The ruling could impact on a small number of current court cases that are being prosecuted under the 1977 Act. It will not impact on existing convictions under the Act.
The ruling means that TDs must pass emergency legislation tonight in order to make these drugs illegal again. The bill will then go to the Seanad tomorrow.
The new bill includes a provision that says it can only take effect on the day after it’s signed into law, meaning that the law will not come into force until 12am on Thursday.
It’s understood that party whips were informed of the potential need for emergency legislation last week but were told it was “highly confidential” until the court ruling was handed down.
The need for emergency legislation means that Sinn Fein’s private members’ bill, which calls for emigrants to be allowed vote in presidential elections, has been postponed to tomorrow evening between 6.30pm and 9.30pm.
It’s now understood that the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill will be taken in the Dáil by Health Minister between 8pm and 11pm tonight.
First published 12.08pm
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
So …..18 weeks is something to be applauded / celebrated???? Time to bring in an external contractor …..increase the days work to say, 10hrs & wotlrk away at weekends / Sundays. A realistic feasible target should be a Month, 6 weeks tops. Clapping & back slapping for 18weeks is so typically ‘ Irish’
@Mary Linton: they hope to bring it down to 10 weeks within 6-12 months. Also could do with the 4000 who couldn’t don’t their test due to invalid NCT, Insurance, Tax etc using their brains a bit
Comments not open on the SPHE article but the recurring problem of driving test backlogs? Fire away.
The SPHE article is little more than the continuation of agnogenesis by the corrupt Irish government.
The content has been proven to be in school libraries & the education developmental plan has it in there.
The article states the Department of Education say the complaints were as a result of a “campaign” – so? Other types”campaigns” are fine but not this one?
More denigrating of parents concerns & exhibits the complete distain the corrupt Irish government have for the majority of the Irish people.
@Jim: You’re the chemical castration case study, mate.
@Jim: that makes the SPHE article little more than propaganda for the “Ministry of Truth”
@Kylie More-Rode – Ballyer Drag Queen: coming from you, someone who is mostl likely a beneficiary of that process, I’ll take it as your mental health issues make you believe your comment is clever & valid
@Jim: If you have been affected by this story, call the helpline at 1-800-ARBRHILL. Get some help with your twisted resentments and character defects before you injure yourself!
@Kylie More-Rode – Ballyer Drag Queen: you ok Hon?
@Jim: you’re great fun Jim
Skibbereen Rugby got a big shout out….
Can confim, my test eta came forward 4 weeks
RSA is a joke. Why is Liz O’Donnell not called in and fired? Well got PD luvvie from SoCoDublin.
It’s not unprecedented demand. It’s an understaffed department with regular demand. But every department is the same. All badly dysfunctional pre-covid, staff culled and less people reinstated. Absolute joke.
@Connor Savage: Agreed. We need to hire more public servants
How did they shave 5 weeks off the waiting list in 21 days? Have a load of testers working from home since Covid returned back to their office? Is there a system the likes of HSE and BAM can implement to improve productivity?
Drogheda is the biggest town in Ireland and still no test center
18 weeks is still a joke. Get back to me when it’s down to max 5 weeks
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Non-TCF/GVL Vendors
have your say