Children as young as seven are arriving at school under the influence of drugs, an Oireachtas committee has heard. Fine Gael TD for Louth, Paula Butterly, told the justice committee that schools in Drogheda had told her of incidents involving so-called “drug mules”. She said that in many cases, those using the children as drug mules were children themselves. If there are children who are being forced into criminal activity by adults, that is child abuse. The legislation is in place in respect of it, but I think maybe from society, we can categorise it as child abuse, which it is.

Source: Irish Examiner January 28, 2026 16:16 UTC