Fianna Fail has proposed a minimum sentence of 10 year for dealers caught with drugs' worth more than £10,000.
In 1993, the latest year for which figures are available, most people convicted of possessing drugs with intent to supply received sentences of less than two years, the party's justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, told the Select Committee on Legislation and Security.
Mr O'Donoghue, who was proposing an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Bill, said that of the 71 people convicted in 1993, three received sentences of less than three months, six of between three and six months, 20 of six months to a year, and 29 of one, to two years.