Vol. 550 No. 2
25 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the actions which have been taken under the national drugs strategy to date; the success or otherwise of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8074/02]
46 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the progress made to date regarding implementation of the new national drugs strategy launched on 10 May 2001; the progress which has been made regarding the extension of the drugs task forces to the regions; the role he envisages for area based partnerships in driving these task forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8043/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 25 and 46 together.
The National Drugs Strategy, 2001-2008, aims to tackle the drug problem in the most comprehensive way ever undertaken in this country. The strategy contains 100 individual actions under the four pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research.
Since it was launched in May 2001, considerable progress has been made by Departments and agencies to meet the targets which have been set out for them in the strategy. The interdepartmental group on drugs, IDG, which I chair, meets monthly to assess progress by Departments and agencies in achieving the targets set for them and any obstacle to the implementation of any of the actions can be brought to light at these meetings. A progress report on the implementation of the strategy is presented to the Cabinet committee on social inclusion every six months. The first of these reports was presented at the January meeting of the Cabinet committee and highlighted a number of areas where substantial progress has been made.
First, the Department of Education and Science is now represented on nearly all local drugs task forces. In addition, it is recruiting two support staff to enable the delivery of substance misuse prevention programmes in all schools over the next three years. Schools in the local drugs task force areas will be prioritised in this context.
Second, the Department of Health and Children has established a cross-sectoral committee to develop an ongoing national awareness campaign which was recommended in the strategy. The committee's work is proceeding and it is planned to launch the first phase of the campaign in April. In this context, the committee will also be taking on board the recommendations of the first report of the national advisory committee on drugs, Drug Misuse Prevention: An Overview of Research, which was published in early December 2001.
Considerable progress has been also been made regarding increasing the number of methadone treatment places. The number of treatment places at the end of 2001 stood at 5,865, an increase of more than 830 since the start of 2001. Under the national drugs strategy we are committed to increasing that number to 6,500 by the end of 2002.
One of the actions that the strategy recommends is the establishment of regional drugs task forces, which will be set up in every health board area, including the three area health boards that comprise the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The new task forces will bring together the relevant statutory, voluntary and community sectors and the secretariat will be provided by the relevant health board.
