Vol. 537 No. 4
11 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the moneys which have been allocated to date under the young people's facilities and services fund; the structures which are in place for the long-term management, maintenance and funding of such facilities; if there has been discussions with the local authorities on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15368/01]
As part of the Government's overall strategy to tackle drug misuse, the young people's facilities and services fund was established in 1998 to assist in the development of preventative measures in a targeted manner through the development of youth facilities, including sport and recreational facilities and services in disadvantaged areas where a significant drug problem existed or had the potential to develop. The aim of the fund is to attract "at risk" young people in disadvantaged areas into these facilities and divert them from the dangers of substance misuse. The national assessment committee for the fund is chaired by my Department and includes a representative of Dublin Corporation. To date, approximately £46 million has been allocated by Government to support over 340 facility and services projects under the fund.
An external evaluator was recently appointed to examine the overall impact of the fund at national, plan and project level against the targets, objectives and performance indicators agreed. The report of the evaluator, which is expected in September 2002, will identify models of best practice, which will inform the next phase of allocations under the fund.
(Mayo): I thank the Minister for his reply and commend him on the work he is doing. What is the current statistic in relation to the number of drug addicts, particularly heroin addicts, within the greater Dublin area? Two years ago it was estimated at something in the region of 14,000. The local task forces were extremely pessimistic in relation to their success in dealing with the issue on the ground. What is the current position in terms of the challenge?
The figure is estimated at 13,500 heroin/opiate abusers in the Dublin area. Last year we set up the national advisory committee on drugs and one of their jobs is to try to give us a real assessment of what is happening. They have four sub-committees, one of which is investigating treatment. A number of people felt that the Comiskey figure of 13,500 included some numbers that should not be there. It is likely that it is in or around that figure but we expect to have a harder figure later this year.
The Minister used the term "significant risk". What is the definition of substance abuse or drugs we are talking about? Does this include the use or abuse of aerosols which is a growing problem? Does the Minister not agree that there is a broader range of substances of abuse today than there was ten years ago and that the term needs to be broadened?
How many areas have already drawn down funding and where are those areas? I presume most of them are in Dublin, Cork and the major population centres. Has any work been done to review it in the regional centres where there are also significant substance abuse problems? Even a town such as Athlone has a problem with opiates and it is the same in many other places. Have those problems been addressed?
Deputy Naughten has asked my question. Has any assessment been done outside the areas where the task force works? There is a major problem. Does the Minister agree that an assessment of the problem needs to be done all over the country and particularly in the schools?
When we did the review of the national drugs strategy which we launched recently we went all round the country. We had eight public fora, some 190 people wrote to us and we met about 34 groups from that. Aerosols did not emerge as a major issue although we had expected them to. They are extremely dangerous but they do not seem to be popular abuse substances. There is a broad range of substances abused, apart from opiates.
The reason attention comes back to opiates is that heroin is the drug that does most damage to the individual, the family and the community. The drug problem changes dramatically once heroin gets into a community. That is why it always comes back to opiates and why people ask what is happening with other drugs. The review showed clearly, especially in rural areas, that people were far more concerned about the abuse of alcohol and problems of under age drinking than they were about drugs. That was very clear.
The new regional structures we have set up will identify the problems in their own areas. They will then be able to tap in to the national advisory committee on drugs. That committee will become a very important part of the country's drug policy. It will work on four pillars, supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research. Members of this House and people in the media will, no doubt, make much use of the national advisory committee. It has undertaken a huge amount of research, much of which will stand the test of time and will be extremely important for Members of this House.
