Vol. 489 No. 6
645 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a number of voluntary organisations operating in partnership in communities, such as an organisation (details supplied), are dissatisfied with the participation level of certain statutory agencies; and the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that these agencies fully participate and are proactive in future. [8810/98]
The composition of the local drugs task forces reflects the need to ensure co-ordinated, locally based responses to the drug problem which complement existing or planned programmes by the statutory agencies. In this context, each of the 13 local drugs task forces includes representatives of the health board, Garda, probation and welfare service, FÁS, local authorities and vocational educational committees.
While this represents a considerable demand on the resources of the agencies involved, I believe that, in general, the statutory representatives have participated effectively in the process to date, reflecting the importance which their agencies attach to the work of the task forces.
The national drugs strategy team, which oversees the work of the task forces, has established a sub-group to support the statutory representatives in various aspects of their work. I have asked the team to examine the specific matter raised by the Deputy.
