Vol. 563 No. 5
92 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his plans to deal with the significant problem of increasing cocaine use here; and the new resources and extra funding his Department will be providing in 2003. [8434/03]
My Department has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the implementation of the national drugs strategy covering the seven-year period 2001-08. The strategy aims to tackle the drug problem in the most comprehensive way ever undertaken in this country and contains 100 individual actions – under the four pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research – to be implemented by a range of Departments and agencies.
My Department also has responsibility for the work of the local drugs task forces, which were established in 1997, in the areas experiencing the worst levels of drug misuse. Currently, there are 14 local drugs task forces: 12 in Dublin, one in Cork and one in Bray. In total, the Government has allocated over €51 million to implement the proposals contained in the two rounds of plans of the task forces since 1997.
With regard to the extent of cocaine use, while comprehensive data is not available, provisional figures would suggest that cocaine seizures have increased substantially, particularly in 2002, and the Garda authorities have expressed concern at the apparent recent increase in cocaine use, especially in the Dublin city area. The increase would appear to coincide with an increase in the availability and use of cocaine in Europe generally, as a result of increased production, particularly in Colombia, and a consequential drop in the street price.
In addition, I am aware that the Eastern Regional Health Authority has reported that its services are beginning to notice an increase in those presenting with problems related to cocaine use, although it should be noted that the numbers involved are still relatively low.
Services for cocaine users primarily involve counselling and, in this context, the Deputy should note that additional counsellors and outreach workers have been recruited by the three area health boards of the ERHA in recent years. In addition, the Northern Area Health Board has recently established a treatment clinic, dedicated to cocaine misuse, in the north inner city.
The national advisory committee on drugs has commissioned a national population survey, which is due to be completed this summer, and this should give us a more reliable picture of drug use nationwide, including cocaine. The committee has also undertaken its own review of the available information on cocaine use and will be giving a presentation on this review next month to the interdepartmental group on drugs, which I chair.
In the context of the national drugs strategy, while I am confident that any extra measures that may need to be taken to tackle cocaine use can be addressed, I can assure the Deputy that I will be keeping the matter under review.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. Is it not a fact, however, that the statistics for Dublin's south inner city area show that one in six clients is now presenting with both heroin and cocaine addiction? One south inner city service has seven pregnant women attending, four of whom are using cocaine. In north city locations, including Ballymun and Darndale, there is increasing evidence of cocaine use among clients of the existing services. There were ten barring orders in community pharmacies in January and February this year involving people who have been very aggressive as a result of their cocaine use. My question concerns resources. The Minister of State has said that he will examine the resources if the services require them, but they are needed now. Community groups are crying out for such services as they are under extreme pressure. Is it not a fact that the community resources budget available for fighting the drugs problem this year is €7 million less than the figure allocated by the Cabinet sub-committee on drugs? The Minister of State has not been provided with the money to fight this problem in the community. Cocaine poses an increasingly serious worry in Dublin and right around the country.
Some of the figures the Deputy mentioned may well be correct. The general use of cocaine is increasing and in certain parts of Dublin addicts are not all using it as their primary drug. I accept that people who are on other drugs may be using cocaine as well. At the same time, according to Garda statistics, cocaine offences are relatively few, although they are increasing from a very low level. Cocaine is different from heroin in that there is no treatment for it.
That is correct.
With heroin there is, at least, the methadone substitute which acts as a form of treatment when prescribed. There is no treatment for cocaine addiction, apart from non-residential counselling. Those services are being provided but we can only do so much in making people aware of the dangers and helping them to face up to their own responsibilities. Some people who have used drugs feel cocaine is a clean, harmless drug but it is very dangerous and can cause severe, long-term psychological damage. We are providing services, however, and it is something that is of great concern to us.
As the Minister of State rightly said, one-to-one counselling for cocaine addiction is extremely intensive. Is it not a fact, however, that the number of staff required for such counselling is far greater than envisaged and the Minister of State does not currently have the resources to provide them?
No, that is not the case. The resources of my Department are for local drugs task forces and other services. Non-residential counselling services are being provided by the Department of Health and Children and the health boards.
With respect, the Minister of State's budget has been cut back by 7% this year, so the services cannot be provided.
There is some truth in the figures quoted earlier by the Deputy. We did not get the exact amount we sought from the Department of Finance.
That is right, yes.
Equally, however, we would have needed that if all the services and drugs task force plans started on 1 January. Since they did not, we do not necessarily have to ask for any more and we hope to get by.
