Enda Kenny
Question:107 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress which has been made on combating drug abuse. [9900/01]
Written Answers. - Drug Abuse.
As the Deputy may be aware, my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy Eoin Ryan, has overall responsibility to ensure that a co-ordi nated, integrated response to the problems posed by drug misuse is in place.
In so far as my Department is concerned the objectives of the health response to the drugs problem are based on two key elements, reducing the number of people turning to drug misuse in the first instance through information, education and prevention programmes and providing a range of treatment options for those addicted to drugs, the ultimate objective of which is a return to a drug free lifestyle.
My Department, through the health promotion unit, runs or is involved in a number of initiatives which are aimed at tackling and reducing the number of young people misusing substances nationwide and most particularly within the eastern region, where the majority of problem drug misusers reside. These initiatives include supporting drug education and prevention programmes and social and personal health education which is a broad based lifeskills programme for junior certificate students in schools. A support service to implement this programme has been established through a partnership between my Department and the Department of Education and Science, in conjunction with the health boards, the Marino Institute and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The substance abuse prevention programme On My Own Two Feet will be incorporated into the SPHE programme in the future and the Walk Tall programme will continue to be implemented in primary schools. Teachers and schools are also often supported by regional health education officers from the health boards.
Within the youth sector the national youth health programme has been developed through a partnership between my Department, the Department of Education and Science and the National Youth Council of Ireland. This programme provides training and support for a range of initiatives aimed at the youth sector nationwide. The programmes supported include the Youth Work Support Pack for Dealing with the Drugs Issue, Knowledge is Power and Drink Awareness for Everyone. A range of other training and support is offered to youth groups and youth work leaders to assist them to deal with the issue of drugs, alcohol and smoking as they arise in their work. Also, within the youth sector a substantial number of drugs education workers have been appointed and supported.
Within the community setting Drugs Questions, Local Answers is a community based programme offered by health boards which aims to activate local communities to assess the drugs problem specific to their own area and then to look at ways in which the community can respond to the issues arising. The programme was developed by the health promotion unit of my Department and is delivered regionally by local people who have been trained in delivering the programme. Being Well is another community based programme which has been developed by the health promotion unit. This programme encourages people to take a holistic approach to their health but also looks specifically at smoking and alcohol. Again this programme is supported by regional health boards and delivered by local people who have been appropriately trained.
The health boards also support a range of parenting interventions such as Family, Communication and Self-esteem. This is a parenting programme which aims to look at ways in which parents can pro-actively deal with the issue of drugs within the home. Health boards also fund a number of voluntary organisations whose work involves prevention and treatment of drug misuse.
Services for drug users in all health boards have increased substantially over the past number of years. Funding has been provided to the regional health boards to considerably strengthen the infrastructure for the delivery of drugs services. In the eastern region treatment services have expanded from three locations in 1995 to the current 55. The number of people receiving treatment has risen from 1,358 in 1995 to more than 5,000 now. In an independent review of the drug services of the Eastern Health Board published in 2000 the authors found that:
There has been a remarkable degree of activity and expansion within the services in the EHB over the past four to five years . . . A programme of service expansion was embarked on that is probably one of the more innovative community drug service programmes in Europe.
Despite the progress achieved to date there are waiting lists for drug treatment. The Eastern Regional Health Authority has received additional funding in 2001 to address this situation. The authority, in conjunction with the area health boards, will work towards tackling this problem with the overall aim of eliminating these waiting lists.