I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad in my capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy and update it on the progress made in implementing the strategy which was launched almost two years ago and for which my Department has overall responsibility for co-ordinating its implementation. While it is set to run until 2008, I am pleased that much progress has been made since it was launched.
I do not need to tell Senators that drug misuse is a complex problem, one that impacts on the provision of many services. As such, it requires a response from a range of Departments, agencies, professionals and local communities. For example, drug misuse impacts on the health and education systems, the Garda and Customs and Excise, city and county councils and training bodies such as FÁS. Additionally, it has a very direct and often devastating impact on local communities. That is the reason the strategy is a very comprehensive document, which is the result of a thorough consultation process.
Approximately 190 submissions were received and eight regional consultation fora held around the country when the strategy was being considered. In addition, the review group and the then Minister of State met 35 separate interest groups. The views expressed throughout that process are reflected in the strategy. The result is a national drugs strategy that brings together in a single framework all those involved in drug misuse policy. In recognition of the complexity of the issue, the strategy contains 100 separate actions to be carried out by a range of Departments. These actions fall under four pillars: supply reduction; prevention, incorporating education and awareness; treatment, incorporating rehabilitation; and research.
Since my appointment as Minister of State last June I have been very interested in meeting and hearing the experiences of recovering drug misusers and those working in local communities to address the problem. The message I have received continually is that there has been considerable progress in recent years but that there is still much work to be done. The Government is aware of this and will continue to prioritise the issue.
With a strategy as broad as this it is important to put structures and processes in place which ensure its effective implementation. I chair an interdepartmental group on drugs which meets regularly to discuss the progress being made by Departments and agencies in the implementation of the actions set out in the strategy. A range of Departments and State agencies are represented in the group, the role of which is to bring to the attention of the Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion issues which may impede the progress of the strategy. My Department consults closely with those involved in the delivery of the actions in the strategy to prepare a six monthly progress report which I present to the Cabinet sub-committee. To date, we have presented two such reports and a third is due in April this year. The first annual report on the strategy is due to be published towards the end of April or in early May.
We have requested the production of a critical implementation path for each action to ensure each Department and agency implements the strategy in the most effective manner possible. The value of implementation paths is that they allow us to plot a time frame for each action and monitor the progress of the strategy. The critical implementation path document will be finalised shortly. A mid-term evaluation of the strategy will take place before the end of 2004 at which time it will be possible to make any necessary adjustments and improvements.
This is a long-term strategy but there is already much progress to report. Under its prevention pillar are included a number of actions for which the Department of Education and Science and the health promotion unit of the Department of Health and Children are responsible. A joint substance abuse policy committee comprising officials of both Departments has been convened to establish what support schools need to implement the drugs policy guidelines produced last May. The Department of Education and Science is recruiting extra support staff to enable it to deliver substance misuse prevention programmes as a priority in all schools within local drugs task force areas. All second level schools are to introduce such programmes from September 2003.
School is only one of the places young people learn about drugs and it is imperative that information is available more generally. The first phase of the national awareness campaign is being finalised and it is hoped to launch it next March. Over the course of a number of years the campaign will target various groups, including parents and young people. Through my involvement with the British-Irish Council sectoral group on drugs, for which ours is the lead Administration, I am conscious that the challenge drugs awareness campaigns present is common to many jurisdictions. I look forward to hosting the June conference scheduled in the Council's work programme which will examine that challenge further. The conference should present an opportunity to share experiences and develop best practice to maximise the potential of drugs awareness campaigns.
The second pillar of the strategy concerns treatment. The consultation process which helped us to draw up the strategy identified a clear need to fully integrate treatment and rehabilitation services which health boards and other agencies are addressing through a wide range of actions. It is important to treat addicted young people and be mindful of the particular sensitivity of treatment of those under the age of 18 years. The Department of Health and Children chairs a group charged with the task of developing a protocol for the treatment of those aged under 18 years and good progress has been made. The Department oversees the implementation of recommendations published in the December 2002 report of the working group set up to examine the use of benzodiazepines such as valium.
The national drugs strategy sought to increase the number of methadone treatment places to 6,500 by the end of 2002 and I am pleased to report significant progress. On 31 October, the latest date for which verified figures are available, the number of places stood at 6,446. This represents a substantial increase from the December 2000 figure of 5,032. In most areas waiting lists for those awaiting treatment have been significantly shortened while there are approximately 800 participating in the FÁS community employment scheme for recovering drug misusers.
The Garda and customs officials reported a greater number of seizures of heroin, cocaine and cannabis in 2001 than in 2000. They are on track to increase the number of seizures by 25% by 2004 and 50% by 2008. The customs service has relaunched its coastal watch programme and improved detection facilities at ports and airports. The Garda and health boards have reported increased heroin use outside Dublin and a rise in the use of cocaine generally. I have asked the national advisory committee on drugs, NACD, to examine the trends in this regard and will study its work to determine what action to take.
High quality information on the complex problem of drug misuse is vital. To this end, the national advisory committee on drugs was established two years ago to advise the Government with regard to its prevalence, consequences and treatment. The committee, whose membership comprises a range of academic, community, statutory and voluntary interests, oversees a three year programme of research. It has published an overview of current research into drug prevention and completed reviews of prevalence information and contemporary literature regarding the consequences of drug misuse for families and communities. These reviews have been used to inform further research. In November 2002 it commissioned a longitudinal study of treatment outcomes and in December 2002 published a report on the effectiveness of buprenorphine in the treatment of opiate dependence. It has commissioned an all-Ireland survey of drug use, the results of which are due late this year. An estimate of the number of opiate users should be completed in the next couple of weeks while a review of harm reduction mechanisms for injecting drug misusers in an Irish context is under way. A draft literature review in this area is due by April.
In September 2002, as part of the implementation of its work programme, the committee launched a community and voluntary research grants scheme to generate innovative community based drugs research. Under this heading, five community groups are working on research projects in their local drugs task force area.
In addition to specific actions under the strategy, my Department has responsibility for the work of local drugs task forces which were first set up six years ago in areas experiencing the worst levels of drug misuse. They operate in 14 areas – 12 in Dublin, one in Cork and one in Bray, County Wicklow, which was designated a task force area approximately three years ago. They are implementing their second round of action plans in respect of which, to date, over €14.5 million has been allocated. In total, since 1997 the Government has allocated over €51 million to implement the projects contained in the plans of the task forces under which they provide a range of drug programmes and services in the areas of supply reduction, treatment, rehabilitation, awareness, prevention and education. In total, over 450 projects have been implemented through the various task force plans.
In addition to the funding made available under the task force plans, a sum of €12.7 million was provided under the premises initiative which was designed to address the accommodation needs of community based drugs projects, the majority of which are based in local drugs task force areas. To date, over €11 million has been allocated to 38 projects under this initiative.
The young people's facilities and services fund is another initiative operating in the 14 local drugs task force areas and the urban centres of Limerick, Galway, Carlow and Waterford. The main aim of the fund is to attract young people at risk into sports and recreational facilities and activities and divert them away from the dangers of substance misuse. To date, approximately €59 million has been allocated for this purpose.
In broad terms, approximately 350 facility and services projects are being supported under the young people's facilities and services fund which fall under seven broad headings: building, renovating or fitting out of community centres, youth facilities and sports clubs; a number of purpose built youth centres; over 85 youth and outreach workers have been appointed; ten sports workers have been employed; a wide variety of community based prevention-education programmes are being supported; a number of targeted interventions for particular groups such as youth work projects for young Travellers have been put in place; and a number of national drugs education and training officers for youth organisations have been employed. I have seen many of these in operation in local drugs task force areas in my constituency and elsewhere in Dublin. Much useful work is being done in that respect.
Diversionary activities have an important role to play in the development of young people at risk of becoming involved in substance misuse. The young people's facilities and services fund aims to provide such activities in areas that need them most. There are many areas, particularly on the outskirts of Dublin, where large suburbs were built without proper infrastructure or social amenities. However, some very good work has been done in recent years under the auspices of the fund.
The positive and active involvement of local communities has played a significant part in the success of local drugs task forces. The consultation process involved in drawing up local task force plans in each community has been an important factor. The underlying principle of the strategy is the development of an integrated response informed by the active participation of all the stakeholders. Partnership and consultation are the best way forward in dealing not alone with this issue but also the wider problem of social inclusion. It is of vital importance that the communities most affected by the drugs problem are provided with the opportunity to have their voices heard in the development of drugs policies. Everybody involved in the local drugs task forces, particularly in the Dublin area, believes the community has been provided with a good service as a result.
Because task forces operate in selected urban areas of high drug misuse, the national drugs strategy recommended the setting up of regional drugs task forces in order to address the issue of drug misuse outside the main urban areas in Dublin and Cork. These task forces will operate in each of the current regional health board areas, including each of the three which comprise the Eastern Regional Health Authority. They will ensure an integrated and co-ordinated response to the problem of drug misuse in the regions and represent a team based response to illicit drug use. Each will be chaired by an independent chairperson and made up of nominees from State agencies working in the region, the community and voluntary sectors, and elected public representatives. It is my intention that all of the regional task force members will work in partnership in a manner similar to the local drugs task forces in Dublin and Cork.
Nominations have been sought from the statutory, community and voluntary sectors for representation on the regional task forces. In addition, the national drugs strategy team has prepared guidelines on their operation in consultation with the relevant sectors and agencies. It is planned to convene the first meeting of each task force by the end of March. It is hoped that, as well as examining the availability of drug services and related resources, they will also provide up-to-date information on the nature and extent of drug use in their region.
These are some of the main areas where progress has been achieved since the launch of the national drugs strategy. The misuse of drugs is a hugely complex issue. As I am sure Senators are aware, there is not just one drugs problem, rather there are many drugs used in different circumstances. Addressing this issue requires responses from a range of agencies and service providers. We all have a responsibility in this area, especially as politicians and legislators. In particular, we need to do our utmost to ensure we make a difference to those communities hit hardest by the problem of drug misuse.
The national drugs strategy covers the period up to 2008. Its mid-term evaluation will, I hope, inform us on how to build further upon the firm foundations put in place. While much progress has already been made, we need to continue our efforts to drive the strategy forward. In this regard, I look forward to hearing Senators' contributions.