Vol. 569 No. 4
108 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will report on the national drugs strategy with particular reference to the local drugs task forces and any assessment his Department has made on progress to date; if there are financial or employment difficulties which have arisen and which have been brought to the attention of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [217848/03]
As the Deputy will be aware, the local drugs task forces, LDTFs, continue to play a pivotal and valuable role in tackling the drug problem in areas of high drug misuse, particularly heroin. During 2002, the national drugs strategy team carried out a comprehensive review of the work of the LDTFs. The recommendations of this review have been discussed at meetings of the Interdepartmental Group on Drugs, which I chair, and many of the recommendations are currently being implemented. One of the review's recommendations is that two additional staff – a project development worker and an administrative assistant – be appointed to each task force. However, as my Department is currently engaged in examining the scope for greater cohesion and integration across community and local development initiatives, I do not envisage the question of additional staff for the task forces being considered until this process has been completed.
109 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the new services he intends to provide for the 6,500 opiate users receiving treatment in view of the shortfall of ?7 million in his budget for the national drugs strategy for 2003. [217849/03]
As the Deputy is aware, my Department has overall responsibility for co-ordinating the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy 2001-2008. The strategy 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 14 local drugs task forces, LDTFs, which were established in 1997 in the areas experiencing the highest levels of drug misuse, particularly heroin. In total, the Government has allocated or spent over €65 million to implement in the region of 500 projects contained in the two action plans of the task forces since 1997. These projects provide a range of services in the areas of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
In addition, services for drug users in all health boards have increased substantially over the last number of years. For example, in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, treatment services have expanded from 12 locations in early 1997 to 57 currently. Most of these services offer a range of treatments including methadone maintenance, methadone reduction, outpatient detoxification, counselling and alternative therapies. In relation to methadone maintenance, there were 1,350 places available on the central methadone treatment list at the start of 1996, whereas currently there are approximately 6,600.
Outside the ERHA, treatment clinics have been established in the South-Eastern Health Board, Mid-Western Health Board, Western Health Board and Midland Health Board. General practitioners and pharmacists also provide treatment services and their involvement has also increased over the last number of years. Services are also provided by a broad range of voluntary and community agencies which are funded through grants from health boards.
I should point out that more people are receiving treatment than the figure mentioned by the Deputy. In addition to those on the central methadone treatment list, other opiate users are receiving a range of detox or drug-free treatments in both residential and non-residential settings. Other users would be clients of needle exchange programmes, outreach services and other interventions for chaotic users.
