Regional drugs task forces are being established in the ten health board regions under the national drugs strategy. The strategy team which is overseeing the establishment of the regional task forces has prepared guidelines for their operation in consultation with the relevant sectors and agencies. The chief executive officers of the health boards have agreed that the existing regional drug co-ordinators will act as interim co-ordinators for the regional drugs task forces. Given their knowledge and experience of the local drug problems and their relationship with local agencies and groups, I believe that the co-ordinators represent a significant resource which will greatly assist the establishment and initial development of the task forces. The aim is to convene the first meeting of each task force by the end of March.
Each health board was allocated €50,000 by the Department of Health and Children in 2002 to help fund the establishment of the regional drugs task forces. There been have no further requests for funding, although health boards are examining the likely costs involved in administering the task forces for the rest of the year. The budget available to the task forces has not yet been finalised, therefore. It is proposed, however, that the task force action plans will be researched and developed in a number of stages. As the task forces will be primarily engaged in consultation and drafting their first action plans over the next year, the bulk of funding required for 2003 will be for administrative purposes. Funding for future years will be considered in the context of the annual Estimates.