Written Answers. - Solvent Abuse.
Richard Bruton
Ceist:
180
Mr. R. Bruton
asked the
Minister for Health
whether there has been any official report on the subject of solvent abuse; if so, if the report's recommendations have been acted upon; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Richard Bruton
Ceist:
183
Mr. R. Bruton
asked the
Minister for Health
whether he has investigated the allegations that many aerosols on the market contain gases dangerous to inhale; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 183 together.
As a result of public concern over the increasing extent of solvent abuse, I included a section (section 74) in the Child Care Act, 1991, which makes it an offence to sell, offer, or make available, a substance to a person under 18 if it is known or if there is reasonable cause to believe that the substance or its vapours are likely to be inhaled by that person for the purpose of causing intoxication. A person found guilty of such an offence is liable to a fine of up to £1,000 or 12 months imprisonment or to both. I propose to bring these new legal controls into force on 1 December next.
Because it is unlikely that the availability of abusable solvents and aerosols can be restricted completely, efforts must be made to inform parents, retailers, factories, garages and schools of the dangers associated with inhaling these products. An awareness campaign has been carried out by the health promotion unit of my Department which sought to do this. Pamphlets were circulated to retail outlets nationwide, and a booklet entitled "Solvent Abuse — a guide for professionals and parents" is available from the health promotion unit.
In addition, the unit continues to train groups such as teachers, women's groups (e.g. all youth officers in the Irish Country Women's Association) and public health nurses in the skills necessary to help young people resist peer pressure and other negative influences which lead them to experiment with and/or abuse different types of substances including solvents/aerosols. I am not aware of any official report produced recently on the subject of solvent abuse.
However, the health promotion unit, in conjunction with the National Youth Council of Ireland, held a one-day seminar on the subject of solvent abuse in March of this year and a report of this seminar was circulated to all who had attended.
Invited participants were drawn from a range of disciplines including counsellors, youth workers, Outreach workers, juvenile liaison officers from all over the country, all of whom had contact with the problem of solvent abuse in their area of work.
During the seminar the various types of abusable products and the locations where abuse occurs were identified and the dangers associated with abuse were highlighted.
Recommendations were then made on what was needed to assist those who work with young people and to equip those young people with the self-esteem and decision-making skills to avoid the abuse of solvents.
Acting on these recommendations the health promotion unit and the National Youth Council of Ireland are in the process of preparing resource materials on the subject of solvent abuse, similar to the Drink Awareness for Youth programme which is proving so effective in encouraging young people to be aware of dangers associated with alcohol abuse.
These new resource materials, which will be for use in youth groups or schools, will be available by early 1992 through the health promotion unit and the National Youth Council of Ireland.
Another initiative which will help fulfil a need identified at the seminar in March is the provision of a substance abuse prevention programme for schools.
This programme helps young people to say "no" to all drug offer situations and is at present being piloted in selected second level schools countrywide. This programme has been jointly developed by the health promotion unit and the psychological service of the Department of Education, with assistance from Mater Dei Counselling Centre, and will run during the 1991-92 academic year.
The substance abuse prevention programme involves the whole school staff, who receive training, resource materials and support from the project team in relation to areas such as assertiveness, influences on teenagers, self-esteem and decision-making skills in order to help young people refrain from abusing all drugs including solvents/aerosols.
Following the successful piloting and evaluation of the programme the resource materials will be made available to all second level schools in the country.
