Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 7 Mar 2013

Vol. 795 No. 3

Topical Issue Debate

Garda Resources

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

The issue that I am about to raise is of the utmost importance to the people of County Louth. As the Minister of State, Deputy White, will be aware, Louth has steadily improved and grown, even matured, since the Good Friday agreement. There is a new sense of optimism and belief and a new and justified sense of pride. The town of Dundalk and the region have benefited from increases in tourism, self-belief and investment. Since the inception of this Government, we have delivered world class businesses to the region, including PayPal, Prometric and eBay, to name just a few. Tourism has increased with outstanding initiatives in County Louth and east County Meath. The natural and unspoiled beauty of the Cooley Peninsula can rival any scenery in Ireland.

These achievements have come about as a result of collective, sustained and selfless work on behalf of the people. These laudable achievements are here to stay and we want to bring further benefits to the region. However, they are under threat if the Minister does not address the issues that I am about to raise.

I doubt that the Minister for Justice and Equality is aware of the problems because, if he was wise to the situation, he would never allow it to exist. How many gardaí and patrol cars does the Minister of State believe police the Omeath to Carlingford and Dromad to Hackballscross area, a distance of some 45 kilometres, at night? In what is arguably the most volatile stretch of the Border, with 36 crossings rife with criminal and dissident activity, there is the princely sum of one patrol car and two gardaí. This is not acceptable. The Dundalk area, including Blackrock, has a population of 45,000 people, but it is only covered by one uniform patrol car. This is not acceptable either.

The situation is reaching crisis level. Please do not allow all of the good work to date to unravel. In order to have an acceptable level of policing in the Dundalk area, personnel are required to replace retirees or other personnel who have been permanently transferred. They number two inspectors, three sergeants and 26 gardaí. In addition, nine official vehicles have not been replaced, comprising three marked uniform patrol cars and six unmarked cars.

These are savage reductions in resources at a time when they are vital. We have all too recently seen the carnage and devastation that the unlawful activities of ruthless criminals can cause. I do not wish to rake over the horrific death of my friend, Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, but if ever there was a time to stand up and be counted, it is now. Gardaí are not asking the Minister to stand up, fight the criminals and keep the people of this State safe. They are happy, proud and honoured to do that themselves. However, they want the resources to do their job. How many of these resources will the Minister deploy to Dundalk and when? The proper resourcing of the Garda in Dundalk is a priority. The Garda is dealing with murders, robberies, diesel laundering, criminal networks, paramilitaries, dissidents and drug dealers, not to mention an array of other crimes.

I would appreciate clear and concise answers on what concrete actions the Minister will take. Gardaí do not need to hear that they are doing a tremendous job in stressful situations or that they are valued. What they need to hear is commitment, followed by action. I want the Minister of State to tell me and the people of County Louth what actions the Minister will take to overcome these issues.

I am acutely aware of the need for cutbacks and, in general, support some of them. However, it is a different matter when people's security is at risk. I ask the Minister of State for concrete answers and commitments that can be measured. A commitment to extra gardaí, sergeants and patrol cars is required.

Just so that the Minister of State is aware, when I comment about these Border and security issues, I am not a jumped up, tie-wearing Deputy who is giving lip-service to his constituents. I am a genuinely concerned citizen. What is more, I have first-hand experience of these Border crossings and the activities that they afford. I have stood at these crossings as a proud member of the Irish Defence Forces patrolling the Border during some of the worst times in our recent history, namely, the Troubles. I know what it is to patrol these crossings in the dead of night. I know the strain that the Garda Síochána is under trying to police these crossings against smuggling, laundering and paramilitaries. It is imperative that extra resources be applied to the region. If the Minister of State is in any doubt, I will take him to see each of these crossings, from Hackballscross to Omeath.

If the Minister does not want to see these achievements unravel, which I am sure he does not, what steps will he take? The people of County Louth deserve to know whether he is prepared to stand up and tackle these serious issues. Is the Minister prepared to allow all of the success in the region to be lost? He does not want the gangsters, smugglers, oil launders, criminals and dissidents to succeed. On behalf of the people of Louth, I would appreciate his help.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Alex White)

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this matter of significant public importance. Unfortunately, the Minister cannot be present to speak on this issue, as he is chairing a Justice and Home Affairs ministerial meeting in Brussels. He has asked me to address this issue on his behalf.

The House will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the detailed allocation of resources, including personnel and transport, throughout the organisation and that the Minister has no direct function in the matter. This allocation of resources is constantly monitored by the Commissioner and his senior management in the context of demographics, crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies in place on district, divisional and regional levels to ensure that optimum use is made of Garda resources.

Garda numbers have been reducing due to the moratorium on recruitment introduced by the previous Government. Its current strength is just under 13,400 members. It is the Minister's objective, despite the significant financial issues facing the Government and the overall reduction in public service numbers, to ensure that Garda numbers will not fall below 13,000. He will be introducing relevant proposals to the Cabinet in the coming weeks to give effect to this.

Regarding Dundalk Garda district, which is in the Louth division, the Commissioner has informed the Minister that 149 gardaí, 45 garda reserves and 23 civilian staff are assigned to it. These resources are further augmented where necessary by a number of Garda national units, such as the Garda traffic unit, the Garda national drugs unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, and other specialised units. There are also 20 vehicles assigned to the district, which are augmented as appropriate and when required from divisional and regional resources.

It goes without saying that no Minister would choose the appalling financial position in which we must operate. In this context, the legacy that the last Fianna Fáil-led Government bequeathed to the country included a series of expenditure ceilings for the justice sector that, if applied, would have resulted in devastating cuts in Garda services over which the Minister would not and could not have stood. The Fianna Fáil national recovery plan was unacceptable and would have put the Garda Commissioner in an impossible position.

Fortunately, the Minister was able to secure additional funding over the three year period 2012 to 2014 to ensure that the Garda Commissioner, and An Garda Síochána, could continue to deliver an effective policing service.

The Minister has already recorded in this House the additional resources that have been made available in the past three years. Overall, had the Minister not obtained this additional finance, the Garda would have stood to lose an average of €90 million each year under the Fianna Fáil plan over the years 2012 to 2014. In 2013 the Garda financial allocation, which in gross terms amounts to more than €1.4 billion, is a substantial amount of money. I can assure the Deputy, and the House, that this allocation will be spent in the most efficient and effective way with the emphasis on the delivery of front­line services. In that general context, a budget of €5 million has been made available in 2013 for the purchase of additional Garda vehicles. The modernisation of the Garda fleet is a crucial part of supporting policing operations throughout the State.

The Minister is determined that the resources of An Garda Síochána will be used in the best, most effective and efficient way possible. He is confident that the primary Garda objective of combating crime will continue to be achieved, and that despite the pressure on the public finances, it will be possible for the force to operate to the optimum benefit of our communities in a manner that will facilitate the prevention and detection of offences.

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

In Dundalk Garda Station there is only one inspector for the past six years when there should be three. There are seven sergeants when there should be ten. There are 41 gardaí and another 26 are required. The station is short nine cars. Personnel are working ten-hour shifts in five units as per the new rostering arrangements.

Blackrock has one sergeant and three gardaí but no patrol car. Omeath has three gardaí. Carlingford has one sergeant and four gardaí. Omeath and Carlingford have one car between them. Hackballscross has one sergeant and four gardaí. Dromad has one sergeant and seven gardaí. The station is open 24 hours with one garda in the station at all times. Hackballscross and Dromad have one car between them.

There are more than 65,000 citizens in the Dundalk district, which covers more than 45 km of the Border plus 36 crossing points. The Garda deals with murders, robbery, diesel laundering, criminal networks, paramilitaries, dissidents and drug dealers. I do not accept the Minister's reply. We need help. I would appreciate if the Minister could meet with me to discuss the situation.

Deputy Alex White

The commitment of the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána is to maintain operational effectiveness and resilience, but in order to do that, inevitably, as I am sure the Deputy would accept, the work must be prioritised and some difficulties have been made and remain to be made. The Minister, through me, wishes to assure the Deputy and the House that both he and the Garda Commissioner will ensure the maximum possible amount of resources are made available to the Garda and that optimal use is made of them.

On the specific issues the Deputy raised, I am sure he will have an opportunity to raise them directly with the Minister in due course. As he will appreciate, I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, today because he is on important business in Brussels.

Family Income Supplement Eligibility

Deputy Michael McCarthy

I raise this issue because it has come to my attention in recent times that one section of the Department of Social Protection has changed the formula used to assess applications for renewal of family income supplement, FIS. That is most disturbing and frustrating. I will spell out in black and white what has occurred. I have been in touch with various people in the Department and I have spoken to an official there but I am not satisfied as the issue has not been resolved. It should not have arisen in the first place. The case concerns an applicant for renewal of FIS for the fourth year. The person's circumstances have not changed at all in the four years. He got the payment in year one, year two and year three. The logical conclusion is that he would get it in year four but the Department sent out an inspector and stopped the payment and it is now assessing his circumstances in a different way. That is the kernel of the issue.

The constituent was contacted by the Department in the context of the renewal of the family income supplement to say that his hours of employment amount to less than 38 hours per fortnight, which means the application was unsuccessful. However, that is not the case. The Department has calculated his hours by virtue of what he earns as opposed to the hours he works, based on the evidence provided by his employer. His employer has given written confirmation of the fact that the individual concerned does work 20 hours per week. Does the reply given to the Minister of State, Deputy White, take cognisance of the serious issue outlined?

I have a copy of the employment details of the person concerned as filled out by his employer. The individual works 20 hours per week at €10 per hour. It is written in black and white. The case concerns a renewal of the family income supplement payment for the fourth year and the circumstances are the same as they were in the previous three years. It is interesting to note what the Department has done. It has identified a monthly gross payment of €800 and an annual gross of €9,600. The latter amount was divided by 52 to give a weekly gross of €184.61 and at €10 per hour it calculates that only 18.4 hours a week are being worked. That is ridiculous and time-wasting. It is causing financial hardship for a family that is doing its best to stay out of a poverty trap. If the policy change had been widely publicised by the Department then it could be accepted, to an extent, but this is more sinister and it is also clandestine. People are trying to weather the recession who are semi-welfare dependent, who do not need this type of bureaucratic nonsense to be thrown at them. I have spoken to a number of officials and tabled parliamentary questions. This week the person concerned has had to visit a social welfare inspector. It is time-wasting and also a waste of money to put officials dealing with a case that does not need to be dealt with at all. I would like to hear in the reply an indication from the Minister that this nonsense will be disposed of and that the status quo will be reinstated immediately.

Deputy Alex White

I thank Deputy McCarthy for raising this issue which I will address on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton.

Family income supplement is designed to provide income for employees on low earnings who have families. This preserves the incentive to remain in employment in circumstances where the employee might only be marginally better off than if he or she were unemployed and claiming other social welfare payments. The method of calculating FIS entitlement has not changed for either new or renewal claims. At both new claim and renewal stages, the deciding officer will first check to ensure the minimum hours of employment of 19 hours per week or 38 hours per fortnight are being consistently achieved. Then the average assessable earnings are calculated. To do these, the deciding officer uses the information supplied by the claimant and his or her employer on the claim form, recent payslips and-or a P60.

Where, after this process is followed, the deciding officer remains in doubt as to the FIS entitlement, he or she will either request additional information from the claimant or the case may be referred for investigation to a social welfare inspector, SWI. The SWI will make the necessary inquiries in order to clarify the position which may include interviewing both claimant and employer and inspection of any relevant records or documentation.

The entitlement to and appropriate rate of FIS is calculated based on average assessable earnings plus any other income a family may have using the appropriate income limit threshold with regard to the number of qualified children. To qualify for payment of FIS a person must be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee. That is defined as employment which is expected to last for at least three months and paid work for a minimum of 38 hours per fortnight or 19 hours per week. A couple may combine their hours of employment to meet the qualification criteria.

Once FIS is granted it remains in payment for 52 weeks as long as the customer continues to be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee. However, if he or she ceases to be engaged in full-time remunerative employment as an employee, either through loss of employment or reduction of hours of employment, his or her entitlement to FIS ceases. As with all other statutory decisions made by deciding officers of the Department, FIS claimants are offered the right of appeal to the independent social welfare appeals office.

Deputy Michael McCarthy

I refer to the paragraph in the Minister of State's reply which states "the method of calculating FIS entitlement has not changed". It has changed, based on information supplied by the employer and by the applicant. I wish to stress that this is the fourth year for the applicant. In years one, two and three, the application was successful but the renewal application this year is unsuccessful. Therefore, the assessment criteria or the formula has changed because the applicant's circumstances have not.

I will read into the record again the documentation supplied to the Department by the employer. The applicant works 20 hours per week, at €10 per hour but the some wizard in the Department has calculated, based on some unknown formula, that the applicant works 18.4 hours a week. That is based on the Department's assessment. A procedure has been introduced that changes the status quo. If what was in the Minister of State's speech was correct, the application would have been unsuccessful to begin with.

I respectfully request that an official in the Department contacts me to say that this piece of nonsense will stop forthwith and that payment will be reinstated. As I have outlined, new eligibility criteria or an assessment formula have been introduced that differ from the system that was used for the first three years, resulting in the suspension of the payment.

The Minister of State represents the Department of Health and I acknowledge the fact that he has taken time out of his schedule to take this topical issue. I ask that in communicating back to the Department of Social Protection that he requests that the Department would stop referring to people who use the system as "customers" - they are citizens of a republic. I further ask the Minister of State to communicate my frustration to the Department of Social Protection because it is a complete waste of resources. The applicant's circumstances have not changed but the system used by the Department of Social protection has changed.

Deputy Alex White

The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot really progress the matter any further than I have in the response I have given to the House. I am advised, as I indicated earlier, that the method of calculating FIS entitlement has not changed for either new or renewal claims. The Deputy has set out certain facts about a particular applicant's experience in this regard. Obviously, I cannot deal with a specific case but there is an appeals mechanism in respect of people who make applications and are refused. The Minister for Social Protection herself does not have an appellate role in this either. There is a system in place which should be properly applied. I have no reason to believe that it is not being properly applied but if there is an issue, there is an appeals mechanism to be invoked. I really cannot put the matter any further than that.

Since the Deputy raised the issue, I must say - I know I will get into trouble for saying this - that I share his view regarding the use of the word "customer".

Palliative Care for Children

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Táim buíoch, mar is gnách, don Cheann Comhairle as ucht an t-ábhar fíor-thábhachtach seo a roghnú inniu. Baineann sé le páistí óga a bhfuil bás luath i ndán dóibh.

There are 1,400 children in Ireland today with life-limiting conditions. About 350 such children die each year and most of these young lives are limited to less than one year. The majority of their parents would, of course, wish to care for their children at home. The policy document on palliative care for children with life-limiting conditions was published in 2010 by the Department of Health. On Monday of this week the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Children's Sunshine Home published a needs assessment for the HSE's Dublin mid-Leinster and Dublin north east areas. This assessment was done to assist with the 2010 document's recommendation that a comprehensive children's palliative care service needs to operate within a co-operative model with close liaison between all stakeholders and relevant service providers. Another key recommendation was to set up a national development committee for children's palliative care.

Respite is naturally a major part of care for many children with life-limiting conditions and their families. With this in mind, the 2010 document recommended that a range of respite services should be developed for children with life-limiting conditions who have palliative care needs. It further recommended that hospice-at-home teams would be developed by the HSE, that inpatient hospice beds specifically for respite should be developed as part of the children's palliative care service and that each HSE administrative area should plan and develop respite facilities for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. One of the priorities identified in the national policy was an audit of existing respite facilities and the Children's Sunshine Home and the Irish Hospice Foundation set out to identify existing services and to assess current and future need within the two administrative areas referred to earlier. The assessment found that the provision of respite care services varies both between the two HSE administrative areas under study and that it is not available in either area to all families with a child with life-limiting illnesses. Limited in-the-home and out-of-home services are provided, often supported by a combination of voluntary and statutory funding. Some services are diagnosis dependent or age dependent, that is, confined to babies or very young children. Families whose children do not have a definitive diagnosis may find access to respite particularly challenging and it is likely that the voluntary sector will continue to be the key service provider. Currently, for example, the Jack and Jill Foundation provides respite services to 126 children in the two areas studied.

The assessment finds that the need for a palliative respite service for children with life-limiting conditions is projected to steadily grow over the period to 2021. It also points out that a range of respite care programmes, developed in a structured and co-ordinated way, will be required to meet the needs of 411 children currently, and up to 478 children by 2021 in the areas studied. Furthermore, it is estimated that the development and operation of the six forms of respite care outlined in the study will require a budget in excess of €10 million per annum, rising to €12 million plus by 2021, assuming a 70-30 ratio between in-the-home and out-of-home respite care. It goes without saying that providing care of this nature to a child with a life-limiting condition at home can be physically and emotionally demanding.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

Deputy Alex White

I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising this issue. He has given a very good account of the issue and the background to this important matter.

In 2010, the Department of Health published Palliative Care for Children with Life-limiting Conditions in Ireland - a National Policy, which provides the foundation and sets out clear direction for the development of an integrated palliative care service for children and their families across all care settings.

Following on from the publication of the policy, the national development committee for children's palliative care, NDC, was established by the HSE. The committee is co-chaired by the HSE and the Irish Hospice Foundation and includes a representative from the Department of Health. The committee has overall responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the national policy recommendations. The committee's emphasis on partnership is reflected in its membership comprising statutory, voluntary, professional, and parent involvement.

The NDC agreed that an assessment should be undertaken in HSE south and HSE west to complete the national picture following an earlier exercise in two HSE regions, Dublin north east and Dublin mid-Leinster, which examined respite care for children with life-limiting conditions. The Irish Hospice Foundation and LauraLynn, Ireland's children's hospice, in partnership with the HSE published the report, entitled Respite Services for Children with Life-limiting Conditions and their Families in Ireland - A Needs Assessment, on 4 March 2013. The report provides a national overview of service provision and future respite requirements as part of a palliative care service for children in Ireland.

The report identifies some of the challenges involved in planning for respite care such as difficulties with definitions and terminology; determining the numbers of children who require respite care and the numbers currently availing of services; the extent and location of current service provision; and the perhaps at times unnecessary distinction between disability services and palliative care. As the report highlights, most families prefer to be able to care for their child at home. In order to be able to do so, adequate support systems need to be in place and this includes the availability of a high standard of respite care provided both in the child's home and also out-of-home, in an appropriate residential setting or respite unit. The report provides an indication of what is currently available and what is required at a national level to provide for the respite needs of children and families. The report acknowledges that a significant level of respite support is already being provided but access is inconsistent around the country and can be dependent, as Deputy Ó Fearghaíl pointed out, on diagnosis or geographic location or both.

The report will assist the Department of Health and the NDC in planning for the respite needs of children with life-limiting conditions and is a useful contribution to filling in the gaps in the understanding and knowledge of the way respite services for children are organised. A number of the recommendations in the report are already under consideration by the NDC and the committee has undertaken to examine all of the recommendations through its ongoing programme of work.

My Department will be maintaining a close liaison with the HSE and the NDC in this context.

Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl

I thank the Minister of State for being here and for responding to the issue. When we embarked on the course of adapting the working day of the Dáil to include Topical Issues, very strong commitments were given that we would have the responsible Ministers here. I commend the Minister of State on the job he has done in the Department of Health but I have listened for many years to very strong statements being made by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, about palliative care and services for children in need in particular. Nothing in the report and the response given today would give me or any of the hundreds of parents across the country reason to be confident that the Government will be in a position to deliver the required services. I am talking about the critical respite area, which allows parents who are caring for children 24 hours a day, seven days a week, some opportunity to take time out or recharge their batteries before returning to the loving task of caring for a child who will not see adulthood.

The moneys involved and identified in the report are substantial but there is no indication, either from the Minister of State or in the report provided to him, that the Government is prepared to provide any additional funding. We have all engaged with organisations such as LauraLynn and, in particular, the Jack and Jill Foundation, and we know they are absolutely cash-starved. Mr. Jonathan Irwin is in his 70s and is currently quite ill but he is a pioneer, stepping into the role of the State in providing services that would not otherwise be provided for hundreds of children around the country. It behoves all of us in this House to move mountains to ensure that the funding necessary to support these families is found somewhere in an urgent fashion.

Deputy Alex White

The Deputy is perhaps being just a little unfair in his comments on the response. The report is very useful and important and I agree with the Deputy in that regard. I indicated to the House earlier that a number of the recommendations were already under consideration by the national development committee, which has undertaken to examine all the recommendations. The report was published three days ago and perhaps it would behove all of us to take a little time to consider the various recommendations.

Nobody can disagree with the general thrust of the Deputy's comments on the importance of maintaining - and, if possible, increasing and enhancing - the level of funding and support, ensuring that services are standardised nationwide. That is one of the issues coming from the report. There are other recommendations which are extremely important and close attention will be paid to them. I have no doubt that the Department and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, will follow through. It is an important addition to the stock of knowledge, information and expertise available in this important area.

I assert again that the Government, the Department of Health and the Minister, in particular, have made every effort to maintain an adequate level of funding for this important area at a time of extremely difficult financial constraint. That has borne fruit.

Drug Treatment Programmes Funding

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

There is a long history of community-based drug and alcohol abuse prevention and education initiatives in Howth, Sutton and Baldoyle, as well as across the whole of the old Dublin North-East constituency. We have had a number of outstanding initiatives in this regard, including the rehabilitation and support project, RASP, in Darndale-Belcamp; the Kilbarrack Coast community programme in Kilbarrack-Foxfield; and the Howth peninsula drugs awareness group, HPDAG, which was led for many years with great diligence by Captain Brian Doyle of Howth. In 2012, funding ceased for the HPDAG, which had operated for almost a decade. There is now clearly a strong need for a new education and prevention project to address the gap left by the ending of the earlier drug prevention programme. In addition, the €110,000 in funding allocated to the south-east Fingal catchment area as part of the HPDAG programme remains unused. Howth-Sutton Community Council is the umbrella group for up to 40 affiliated organisations in the Howth peninsula area. The chairman, Mr. Charles Sargent, and his colleagues, Mr. Raymond Sexton and Mr. Niall Watters, recently briefed public representatives about a proposal they have submitted to the Department of Health and the local Dublin north east drugs task force, which advocates a south-east Fingal drugs and alcohol project. Their aim is to establish, under the community council, a community-based drugs and alcohol abuse prevention and education programme for the four parishes.

Howth-Sutton Community Council, through the work of lead researcher Mr. Watters, has provided a detailed and extensive submission which identifies a clear need in the areas referred to for a prevention and information programme tailored to drug and alcohol problems. Mr. Watters notes that there was a 4% increase in the population of the Howth, Sutton and Baldoyle electoral area between the 2006 census and the 2011 census, with a 19% increase in the Baldoyle area because of the expansion of the north fringe. There are worrying statistics provided in the Watters report on alcohol and drug prevalence in the north-east region, which underlines the need to provide the programme I advocate today.

The most recent 2010 and 2011 National Advisory Committee on Drugs survey on drug use in Ireland reported that in the north Dublin region, 35% of all respondents aged between 15 and 64 reported taking illegal drugs. In ongoing national surveys, the figure for lifetime use of illegal drugs is generally higher in the north Dublin region than nationally and, significantly, alcohol is also being used by 80% to 90% of the people across the 15 to 64 age group. Research undertaken by the Health Research Board indicates that in 2010, 33 people were referred for problem alcohol and drug use in the Howth, Sutton and Baldoyle catchment area.

Howth-Sutton Community Council has identified a series of service needs in the region, where there is currently a significant gap. These include a structured education and prevention programme, aimed in particular at high-risk young people; enhanced family support services; a concentration on supply control, especially through enhanced co-operation between the local community and the Garda; and anti-addiction, rehabilitation and support measures, including counselling and training. The proposal sets out clear principles of strict governance under the community council and Companies Acts with a projected budget of €80,000. It would be based alongside the youth project in the Baldoyle area. This is a vital project that will provide critical drug and alcohol education and prevention programmes at minimal cost to the State. It is also important for the Howth-Sutton peninsula that funding is provided for this key service.

The Minister of State may remember that in the 1980s and 1990s, part of the vulnerability of Howth, Sutton and neighbouring parishes was our strong maritime connection. At the time there were allegations that part of the problem of supply was the issue of maritime vigilance and surveillance, and over recent decades monitoring has been much more successful. There is a particular historical vulnerability in the region in question so I urge the Minister of State to fund and support the proposal by Howth Sutton Community Council.

Deputy Alex White

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising the matter. On 7 January, my Department received an application from Howth-Sutton Community Council for funding to establish a drug and alcohol prevention project in south-east Fingal, which would serve communities in Baldoyle, Bayside, Sutton and Howth. The council wishes to set up a project to address a gap in service provision that has arisen as a result of the closure in June 2012 of a community-based drugs project serving the Howth-Sutton peninsula. Funding for the latter project was withdrawn by the HSE as a result of deficits with regard to governance, financial control and accountability that emerged during an audit of the project.

The need for support within communities for education on prevention for young people and support for families has been identified by Howth-Sutton Community Council on the basis of findings from a strategic evaluation of projects conducted by the Dublin north east local drugs task force in late 2011, as indicated by the Deputy. This evaluation included the former project serving the Howth-Sutton peninsula.

Supplementary research undertaken with local schools and community actors in late 2012 also informed the research findings.

The key recommendations arising from the research are that a project be developed in partnership with existing community and statutory agencies, which would work with schools and youth and family support groups to develop local strategies for substance misuse education and prevention. The proposal envisages that the project would initially focus on prevention, education and family support, with expansion into client case management to be undertaken in the medium term if resources become available. The cost of the project, which would involve hiring a co-ordinator and a project worker, is estimated at €79,000 per annum.

As the Deputy will be aware, drugs task forces play a key role in assessing the nature of the drug problem in their areas and co-ordinating action at local level so that there is a targeted response to the drug problem in local communities. Some €29.95 million has been allocated to the drugs initiative in 2013. The majority of this contributes to the running of community-based drugs projects supported by local and regional drugs task forces. This includes an allocation of €988,234 to Dublin North East Drugs Task Force, which has responsibility for tackling the drug problem in the south-east Fingal area.

It is a matter for each drugs task force to decide which projects to support based on agreed priorities for its area within the overall budget available to it. The allocation to Dublin North East Drugs Task Force was determined on the basis of the community-based drugs projects it recommended for funding in 2013.

I have been in contact with Howth-Sutton Community Council. I wrote to Mr. Sargent in January 2013 and have advised the council to submit its proposal to Dublin North East Drugs Task Force for consideration. I have indicated in the letter that my Department will consider the proposal if it has been recommended by the task force. At this stage, the drugs task forces have been advised of their allocations for 2013. The funding of any additional measures is contingent upon the resources available to me for the year.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

From what the Minister of State is saying, does it follow that if the recommendation from Dublin North East Drugs Task Force is strongly in favour of the proposal from Howth-Sutton Community Council, whatever resources are necessary and made available to the Minister of State will be made available for the project? In other words, could there not be additional resources given that the €110,000 for 2012 and which would have been spent on the old project was not spent? I presume the Department was able to return the money to the Exchequer. Is the bottom line that the Minister of State will not have funding if he gets the recommendation?

The Minister of State referred to the audit of the earlier project. Does he agree that there is an ongoing need for the programme of prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, as outlined by Howth-Sutton Community Council and as strongly indicated in the detailed research which was excellently put together by Mr. Niall Waters? Does the Minister of State accept that there is a clear need, as outlined in the paper he would have read? Before making any final decision, will he liaise with the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children? Those Departments, through the local schools and the youth project being run in conjunction with the relevant authorities in Swords, and the outstanding gardaí in Raheny and Howth, would also be very supportive of the proposal.

It is very interesting that the proposal includes a reference to alcohol. When will the Government bring forward the sale of alcohol Bill? What has the Minister of State decided on the question of having a minimum alcohol price? Can we expect an announcement on this?

Deputy Alex White

In my letter to Mr. Sargent in January, I indicated my stance on the proposal. In so far as I understand the proposal, as it has been explained by the Deputy and as I have seen in the correspondence, I believe it has considerable merit on the face of it. However, I will not pre-empt any decision we might be in a position to make once a decision is made by the drugs task force. It is a matter in the first instance for the local drugs task force to decide to consider the proposal. As the Deputy will appreciate, we rely very considerably on the local drugs task forces, which have local knowledge owing to their being embedded in their communities. For many years, the value of local drugs task forces has been the local and community connection. I rely and must rely on their expertise and sense of community priorities, as does the Department. I want to see what the local drugs task force has to say about this in the first instance before indicating anything further, other than to say that I will consider the matter when it arises.

The Deputy will appreciate that I have an annual allocation for the drugs strategy. The great bulk of it goes to local and regional drugs task forces. The amount of money is finite. I, no more than any other Minister, cannot create resources where they do not exist but I am very strongly committed to our ongoing work in the area of drugs misuse, particularly the community dimension. I will certainly do anything I can do to enhance and assist the work of local projects through the local drugs task forces.

The Deputy asked about alcohol. The Tánaiste and Taoiseach have indicated to the House that work in respect of the proposals for a public health (alcohol) Bill has been progressing. I have had a number of meetings with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Justice and Equality, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. There was a lengthy discussion on this issue at a meeting of the Cabinet committee on social policy a couple of weeks ago. Work is progressing very well. As a relatively new Minister of State, I am learning that it is not always best to specify a particular date by which something will happen because inevitably slippages occur in the management of Government business. I am hopeful, however, that we can bring the finalised proposals for a decision to the Cabinet during March. If this does not occur in March, it should happen at some time early in April.

The question of a minimum alcohol price will feature prominently in the proposals and, I hope, the decisions to be made by the Government.