After a vigorous campaign by local residents D3 Head Shop on Clontarf Road has been closed permanently. The local landlord successfully took a high court action which resulted in closure. Fine Gael believes head shops should be completely banned, and have put forward several proposals in the Dáil:

• To require all substances to have product approval from the Medical Council and product liability insurance
• To require such shops to hold an operating licence with strict conditions and a fee of over €100,000
• To require such shops to get permission from the Council for a “change of use”. This would give concerned residents the opportunity to voice their objections

Such moves would force the immediate closure of the headshops. Our proposals have been rejected, and instead the Government proposes to introduce a ban on a range of substances now being sold in Head Shops. We will support this. However we are extremely worried:
• That this will be long delayed because EU approval is necessary
• That the head shops will produce substitute products in a cat and mouse game to bypass the ban.