I flagged this item as well. We had correspondence last week on nitrous oxide that gave us some grim reading. We had a discussion on the subject. We know the prevalence of nitrous oxide and Deputy Byrne spoke very eloquently and passionately on it last week regarding the experience in our communities right across the State. Every town and village has dozens of large empty nitrous oxide canisters being disposed of. We know the impact it is having on children in particular. Hospitalisations are up 130%.
These figures tell me that the Government has thrown its hands up and that Revenue has hoisted the white flag here in terms of trying to tackle this issue. This is borne out for me by the number of seizures this year. Four seizures of nitrous oxide have taken place, totalling 194 kg of nitrous oxide to the value of €7,568. Last year, there were 19 seizures of 34,869 kg of nitrous oxide, which was valued at €1.285 million. There has been a dramatic drop in the seizures of nitrous oxide. This tells me that we have given up. The first aspect is that it is too costly to store the seized nitrous oxide and the second aspect is that it is too costly to dispose of it. Essentially, then, we are not going to do anything.
The real failure here is the failure to legislate. Deputy Bennett is right about the EU. There is no regulation there at EU level. It is up to member states. Legislation has been brought forward by Deputy Mark Ward, but instead of dealing with this serious issue, which is affecting communities throughout the State from the perspectives of health, addiction and finance, the white flag has again been hoisted and the proposed legislation has been kicked down the road with a timed amendment. It needs to be advanced because, ultimately, that is the only way to deal with this issue. This is reminiscent of the head shops that were very prevalent in every town and village going back ten or 15 years. A similar situation arose, unfortunately, where in that case it took communities dragging the Government by the scruff of its neck to finally deal with the issue and put the necessary legislation in place.
When I speak to the drug and alcohol task force in my hometown of Bray, I am being told that families have had kids hospitalised with spinal injuries as a result of the inhalation of nitrous oxide. I am also listening to consultants on the radio talking about the consequences of children inhaling nitrous oxide. I am hearing of communities, particularly at this time of year, where these canisters, which are highly pressurised containers, are going to be thrown on bonfires, which has been the case previously. This puts not only communities at risk, but also members of the fire service who are going out to deal with these things.
A call needs to be made. We are seeing the white flag being hoisted and that is a real failure on so many levels. It is an issue that we need to keep on top of but, ultimately, legislation will need to be brought in to ensure there is the regulation of the sale of nitrous oxide for legitimate purposes. Do any other members of the committee wish to contribute on this issue? Is it agreed to note and publish this item? Agreed.
The next correspondence is No. R2026/0455, dated 11 September 2026, from the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration regarding the late laying of the financial statements for the Insolvency Service of Ireland. Do members wish to comment? No. Is it agreed to note and publish the item? Agreed.
No. R2026/0457, dated 11 September 2026, is correspondence from the president of University College Dublin, UCD, in relation to non-compliant procurement. Deputy Bennett alluded to this item.
