Vol. 468 No. 4
185 Mr. O'Leary asked the Minister for Health if he will arrange with the Southern Health Board to establish a residential day care centre in Killarney, County Kerry, to assist young persons with drug related problems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15500/96]
Limerick East): The provision of services for drug misusers in the Kerry area is a matter for the Southern Health Board in the first instance. My Department has ongoing liaison with the board regarding the provision of its services for drug misusers. The board's policy regarding these services has been set out in its report on the Prevention and Treatment of Alcohol and Drug Misuse, which was published in 1995. The board is making progress on implementing the recommendations in this report, which include the expansion of its services to deal with alcohol and drug misusers.
Following the announcement of the Government decisions on measures to reduce the demand for drugs in February 1996, my Department requested the Southern Health Board to outline how it proposed to implement the decisions in so far as its services were concerned. The health board replied with a detailed response on how it intended to continue with implementation of the policy and it also identified the resources which would be required.
My Department has now allocated additional resources to the board to expand its services. The health board, in turn, has commenced a survey to determine the epidemiology of alcohol and drug misuse within the community in various age groups, locations, patterns of misuse, etc. The focus of this survey would be to estimate the current level of undetected drug misuse.
Following the completion of the above study the board will be in a position to determine the exact requirement for the establishment of treatment centres in Kerry for teenage and adolescent drug misusers.
