Jack Chambers
Question:490. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health to set down how many of the targets or stated aims the national drugs strategy has met and not met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16073/16]
View answerTuesday, 14 June 2016
Questions (490, 491)
Jack Chambers
Question:491. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health if the national drugs strategy 2009-16 has been successful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16074/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 490 and 491 together.
The overall objective of the National Drugs Strategy is to tackle the harm caused to individuals and society by the misuse of drugs through a concerted focus on the five pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research. Periodic reviews of progress of the actions across the five pillars of the current Strategy are carried out through the Oversight Forum on Drugs, which I chair. The 2015 progress report on the implementation of the actions of the National Drugs Strategy is available on the Department's website at www.health.gov.ie.
As the Deputy will be aware, a Steering Committee has been established to advise me on the development of a new National Drugs Strategy, which will take effect in 2017 when the current policy expires. A high level review of the current Strategy has been undertaken by a panel of international experts as part of this process. The aim of the review is to examine the progress and impact of the Strategy across the five pillars in the context of the objectives, key performance indicators and actions set out in the Strategy and to comment on Ireland’s evolution in tackling the drug problem in the light of international trends.
The final report of the expert panel, which is expected shortly, will assist the Steering Committee in determining how the new Strategy should address problem drug use to meet the challenges ahead.