I welcome the progress that has been made in recent years, particularly the large and small seizures made by the Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise. While such seizures are spectacular, they are only an indication of the scale of the problem. While we can congratulate the Garda, it intercepts only about 10% of drugs which gives an indication of the scale of the problem.
I wish to make a number of points, one of which relates to the dangers of the recession and obviously public finances are tight. During the recession in the 1980s, heroin use exploded in this city. That was a time when there was a dependence not only on heroin but on prescription drugs. The appeal is not to the Minister of State who has a desire to get as much finance as possible for the national drugs strategy, but to the Cabinet as a whole not to cut but to increase the amount spent on tackling drug use in our society.
The Minister of State said there were 2,500 drug-related deaths in an eight-year period which is nearly one per day. That is the scale of the problem and I do not think people understand it. There are also those who cannot function because of drugs, those in the accident and emergency departments day in, day out because of complications with their use of drugs, families and young children in particular, grandparents who cannot enjoy their retirement because they are burdened with their grandchildren and the lack of support — although there has been a slight change — but financially it has not happened.
As the Minister of State said, 600 organisations or services are funded under the national drugs strategy. That is a welcome development. Many of these organisations and services are continuously reviewed and evaluated and because of that have proven to be effective. However, there is a concern, given the last round of cuts, that if there are further cuts in funding they will not be able to deliver the service. Is the Minister of State giving a commitment that there will be no further cuts in their budgets for 2009? I am not asking him for a crystal ball for next year. It is not only the funding from the Minister of State's Department that affects these services, obviously the HSE has its own agenda and on occasion it has cut drugs services without any evaluation as to how those cuts affect them. There is also the impact of the two thirds reduction in Garda overtime but I am not aware if there is a cut in overtime for the customs service, all of which will have an effect.
This morning I attended the drugs task force in Ballyfermot where there is much concern about the draft document produced in regard to institutional structures, the implication of which is that the NDST will be dissolved virtually within a number of months. It has been suggested that a number of people will be laid off, because they are non-Civil Service staff, once the NDST is transferred to the Department. This will have an effect on the morale of those people who have worked very effectively in delivering the programme. What is the procedure with this document and has it been signed off? I appreciate it is entitled "draft 1", but that usually means the commas have not been inserted. Is there still a role for the partnership? Everything is being subsumed into the Department which will have full control.
I referred to the scale of the problem but I am concerned also about other drugs. Even though the media often sensationalise drugs, we as a society do not understand the full scale of the problem. In his presentation, the Minister of State said that cocaine use has grown. That must be an understatement. The use of cocaine in this city has exploded. I am aware from reports around the country and meetings I have had that its use has exploded not only among older teenagers but among many adults. That is the scary part. While not as addictive as heroin, it is a major problem.
The scale of the problem of crack cocaine use is not talked about to any great extent. Last week I met a crack addict who has been clean, thankfully, for two months. She gave me an indication of the scale of the problem. The same can be true of crystal meth, even though it is not presenting on a huge scale. I met the Garda inspector this morning who confirmed what I had heard that there are crystal meth factories in the locality of Dublin 12 and Clondalkin which the Garda is trying to find. The problems with crystal meth is that when the addicts present in hospitals, the hospitals are not aware of it and it causes chaos for the health services. I hope the drugs strategy will begin to address these issues, some of which have been around for a long time.
I wish to raise two other points. We welcome the fact that there are regional drugs task forces but there are cities in Ireland that should have local drugs task forces such as Waterford and Limerick. Those areas should not be part of a regional drugs task force system.
The Minister of State mentioned the initiatives around the prevention and treatment of blood-borne viruses and emphasised the continued focus on treatment in prisons. A previous Minister, former Deputy Michael McDowell, was adamant there would be no needle exchange in the prison system. Needle exchanges allow harm reduction and should be made available to the prison population. Prison officers have discussed the idea and, last month, the UN special rapporteur on torture said that the absence of needle exchanges in places of detention amounted to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. I suggest the idea be reconsidered in the context of the new national drugs strategy.