Ahern warns on drugs `scourge'

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, emphasised the need for strengthening protection of children and the fight against drugs in his address to the Council of Europe summit yesterday. Mr Ahern warned that the drugs trade could undermine society, democracy and legitimate trade. It was generating up to $300 billion a year in illegal profits, he said.

The Taoiseach also reported briefly on the opening of the Northern Ireland talks, in which, he said, all participants "are determined to see this process through to an honourable and comprehensive agreement, which will bring lasting peace".

Echoing calls from other leaders to strengthen the 48-year-old Council of Europe, he called for a "definite political agenda to set this unique pan-European organisation on its way towards its 50th anniversary."

The challenge, he said, quoting the organisation's secretary-general, was "to strengthen European security by civilian means" by promoting human rights and encouraging intergovernmental co-operation.

He paid tribute to the Court of Human Rights, welcoming its new structures as a key reform needed to cope with the heavy demands on the court.

Mr Ahern also welcomed the summit's commitment to ensuring recognition of basic social rights and warned that social inequality between and within nations "can be a potent factor of instability".

The "scourge" of the abuse and trafficking in drugs also had the potential to damage the fabric of society and its democratic institutions. Money laundering for the drugs trade was also capable of undermining legitimate economic structures, Mr Ahern said, citing a European monitoring centre's report that profits from the trade amounted in Europe to $300 billion a year.

The Taoiseach said that Ireland strongly supported action against the drugs trade at international level.

Welcoming the Council of Europe's Convention on the Exercise of Children's Rights, Mr Ahern said that "we must recognise the right of the child to be shielded from harmful acts or practices, the right to be protected from commercial or sexual exploitation - such as child labour or child prostitution - and the right to be protected from physical or mental abuse".