I thank the Chair for the opportunity to raise this important matter, and the Minister of State for coming here to reply.
In April of this year, the Eastern Health Board drew up a service plan for the development of services for drug misusers in its health board area and identified the need to provide services for locally based groups seeking a response from the Eastern Health Board for persons requiring treatment in their area.
One of the areas identified with a very high priority in the plan was the Coolock area. This need was based on an assessment of information available from parents, community groups, and outreach workers and counsellors that a minimum of 150 people ranging in age from 16 to 25 years required drug treatment services in the Coolock area.
Meetings and discussions have taken place since then between the health board and community groups involved in drug awareness, particularly in the Darndale-Priorswood area, which have been actively seeking treatment services. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the community groups which have worked tirelessly in an attempt to provide a remedy for the scourge of drug addiction. These meetings have also been attended by the Garda Síochána in Coolock which is playing a very positive and supportive role in endeavouring to provide treatment services.
Despite this work by the community, seven months later there is still no sign of treatment services starting up. This is a cause of great anger in the Darndale-Priorswood community where a number of public meetings with huge attendances have been held. There have also been marches and demonstrations, and there are reports of pressure being put on alleged drug dealers, some of whom are reported to have left the area. It is imperative that a centre be established in the community to provide treatment services for addicts to help contain the drug addiction problem.
Efforts made in September last to provide treatment services from the Coolock Health Centre were unsuccessful owing to a number of factors. The wider Coolock area extends over two Dáil constituencies, Dublin North-East and Dublin North-Central. When the idea of providing treatment services from the Coolock Health Centre was mooted, there was some opposition locally of a parochial nature. Regrettably, the two Fianna Fáil Deputies for Dublin North-Central supported the objectors which effectively blocked any hope of achieving a cross-party and cross-community consensus. This contrasts sharply with the provision of treatment services from the Kilbarrack Health Centre where there was a united effort by the community and by public representatives.
