Gardai have seized €500 million worth of cocaine in the last decade, it emerged tonight.
The figure is part of an Oireachtas Committee report on the treatment of cocaine addiction, which is due to be published tomorrow.
Committee chairwoman Cecilia Keaveney TD said it indicated how serious the problem had become.
"I think it's a phenomenal amount of money and it shows the Gardai and the Customs are working together. But when you look at the international statistics, it's probably only 10 per cent of what's getting through."
The increase in cocaine consumption has been driven by an increase in production of the drug in Colombia and a consequent fall in the street price.
The report of the Oireachtas Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Committee will include the latest international research, such as the fact that 10 per cent of cocaine addicts commit suicide.
It will also show that animals, in experiments, preferred to starve to death rather than give up their addiction to cocaine.
"The evidence for humans would seem to be the same. Once they get into cocaine, their interest in their next fix is paramount above everything else," said Ms Keaveney.