Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Dec 1997

Vol. 153 No. 6

Adjournment Matter. - Youth Development Services Fund.

Mr. Costello

This matter is not unrelated to adult literacy. There is a link between lack of education, literacy, unemployment, disadvantage and involvement in drugs. The original ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs was established to tackle this problem. Arising from that report, a two pronged approach was initiated involving local drugs task forces in designated areas in Dublin and a Cabinet sub-committee on drugs set up to examine the problems.

The Youth Services Development Fund arises in the context of the Cabinet sub-committee. This fund was established by the last Government and £20 million was committed for development purposes. This was seen as an important development which would provide funding for various community projects directed at youths who were at risk or who had been, or might become, involved in drug abuse. The fund was to be significant and targeted to deal with the demand for drugs by providing alternative activities.

I was appalled that the budget allocated only £1.25 million for this year. The £20 million fund covered three years from 1998 to 2000. However, £1.25 million is a particularly poor start. It indicates a lack of urgency at Cabinet level. The purpose of establishing a Cabinet sub-committee was to underline the importance of the drugs problem. This fund was seen as one of the major ways of tackling the problem by providing alternative structures and projects.

It is only 18 months since the death of Veronica Guerin in the midst of a drugs epidemic. Since then, communities in deprived areas have come together at grassroots level because of the apparent inadequacy of the various State agencies empowered to deal with the problem. The fund is intended to tap into grassroots community involvement and activity so that communities will be empowered to provide services and projects to divert youngsters from crime, and drugs in particular.

I was recently at a meeting of the Hardwicke Street Association chaired by the local parish priest. The group involves the local community, the Garda and the business community. Every group was anxious and enthusiastic about the project. It was a three phase programme intended to give youngsters an opportunity of repairing cars, particularly stock cars, to channel their energy away from vandalism; to bring them into recreational and sporting activities; and to phase them into employment.

Central to this programme was the belief that there was a substantial fund available. This community led the fight against drugs. It was the first community to organise and get rid of drugs and drug pushers. It did so in a democratic fashion. However, the community then found that there was no guarantee that any funds were forthcoming and that the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs had rejected its application. This undermines the efforts made by local communities. It is not long since we had an drugs epidemic. The drug barons can easily come back into communities which are now relatively free of drug pushers.

Irrespective of politics, if only £1.25 million is being made available then we could quickly slip back into the old situation. I hope the Minister can assuage my fears and give me some hope that the Government will provide adequate funding for the Youth Services Development Fund.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. O'Dea)

I am glad that the Senator has raised this matter as it gives me an opportunity to explain the position to the House in view of the fact that the Youth Services Development Fund will be administered by my Department.

In October 1996, the ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs published its first report. Arising from one of its recommendations, the Government established a national drugs strategy team to oversee the implementation of the Government's drugs demand reduction strategy.

The principal recommendation in the report related to the establishment of local drugs task forces to ensure effective co-ordination of drugs programmes and services at local level; involve communities in the development and delivery of locally based strategies to reduce the demand for drugs; and focus actions on tackling the problem in the communities where it is at its most severe. Arising from this, 12 local drugs task forces were set up in Dublin and one in north Cork city.

The task forces, which comprise representatives of the statutory, voluntary and community sectors, were mandated to prepare service development plans in line with the above objectives. The Government approved funding of £10 million in 1997 to support the implementation of these plans, this funding to be allocated by the Government on the advice of the Cabinet committee on drugs following an evaluation by the national drugs strategy team. Recognising the links between social exclusion, drug abuse and alienation, the present Government decided that the most strategic way to tackle the problem of social exclusion was to reconstitute the drugs committee into a wider Cabinet committee which would address disadvantage in the broadest sense. The committee directs the work of bodies such as the national drugs strategy team.

The previous Government, in approving the recommendations in the second report of the ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs, approved the establishment of a youth services development fund. It was proposed that the fund should comprise contributions from the Exchequer and the corporate sector and it was envisaged that an Exchequer contribution of £20 million would be made available over the period 1998-2000 towards the fund.

As announced in the budget, an initial allocation of £1.25 million has been made by the Government towards the youth services development fund in 1998. Future allocations will be determined in the context of the annual Estimates. The detailed arrangements for the administration of the fund, including the issue of corporate contributions, are currently being developed.

With regard to the projects currently being funded from the £10 million allocated by the previous Government, a significant number of these relate to the youth services. To date, over £1 million has been allocated to youth/education related projects. It is expected that the bulk of these moneys will be drawn down by the project promoters in 1998. Many of the projects are in the early stages of development and will have to be evaluated to determine their effectiveness. It is only prudent to await the outcome of this evaluation before a commitment is given to invest additional funding towards the youth services development fund.

Youthwork is recognised as a particularly successful intervention in terms of demand reduction among young people. In the youth services area, the Department of Education and Science cooperates with the Department of Health and Children in introducing education about the use of drugs, especially as part of the national youth health programme, and in support of the development of resource materials and of training for youth workers.

The Department, also in co-operation with the Department of Health and Children, has introduced a programme of substance misuse prevention for post-primary schools and has begun the development of a similar programme for primary schools. We have also expanded and deepened the network of health promoting schools and introduced extensive and intensive training programmes for teachers on implementing substance misuse prevention education in schools.

In addition to the above, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has been requested to prepare guidelines for schools, at both primary and second levels, to ensure that social, personal and health education, to include education about use of substances, will become an identified part of the curricula of schools at both levels.

The Seanad adjourned at 4.15 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 19 December 1997.