Drug barons are seen as role models by impressionable young people in their community, the Dáil was told last night.
They have become the "Denis O'Briens and Tony O'Reillys of their communities arising from their illicit, ruthless business operations", said the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Mr John Perry.
The Fine Gael Sligo-Leitrim TD said that the Criminal Assets Bureau should not only "bring these gangsters to book" but that the assets generated at the expense of the ravaged communities "should be channelled directly into undoing the damage caused by these individuals".
Mr Perry was echoing comments from the Opposition on the Fine Gael Bill calling for all assets seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau to be ring-fenced for drugs treatment services.
The legislation the Criminal Assets (Amendment) Bill 2003 was defeated by 63 votes to 51 by the Government whose own amending legislation from 1999 was at a "more advanced stage".
The legislation calls for the €56 million which CAB had collected in taxes and the €19 million of property "frozen" for seven years, to be accessible after three years and to be ring-fenced for drugs treatment services.
Mr Perry said the property would start to come into the State's possession from next year and should be given back to the communities as "restorative justice".
Mr Bernard Allen, Fine Gael's Environment spokesman, criticised the "watering down" of the key principles of the 1998 national plan for sports and recreation. He said there was a drift away from participative to spectator sports.
There was investment in professional sport and an undermining of funding for participative sport, which was "totally wrong", he said and claimed it was led by the Taoiseach and his "emphasis" on creating a national stadium and spectator sport.
However, the Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs forces, Mr Noel Ahern, said that €135 million had been spent on a range of measures since 1997, including the local task forces and young people's facilities and services funds.
"All but a small portion of this money has been spent on local drugs task force areas," he said. He accepted that there would be further demand on the drugs services allocation but "a lot of resources have been spent".
Mr Tony Gregory (Ind, Dublin Central) said that direct grants for sports and community facilities should be given to the communities devastated by the vast profits confiscated from the drugs barons who exploited them.
He said there should be "no question of the money replacing other funding. It would provide additional funding for under-resourced projects." The State neglect by successive Governments led to direct community action to deal with the problem, he said and this led to belated State action.
