Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 1

Written Answers. - Drug Abuse Programmes.

Pat Upton

Ceist:

151 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health the amount of money which has been allocated by his Department to each of the health boards for drug treatment prevention programmes in respect of each of the years from 1990 to date. [12757/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): My Department's Health Promotion Unit has in place a range of national drug prevention and education programmes. The amount spent on these programmes by the Unit each year since 1990 is

	£
1990	41,993
1991	117,312
1992	159,546
1993	113,126
1994	266,855
1995	104,671
1996 (to date)	35,652

This year a further £250,000 will be spent by the Unit on a national multimedia awareness and prevention campaign.

In addition to the above my Department has, since 1992, been providing specific additional funding to health boards to support the provision of drugs and HIV/AIDS services.

The extent of drug misuse varies within health board areas. Consequently the level of funding to each board and the type and extent of drug prevention initiatives adopted by each board vary according to need.

It is not possible to put an exact figure on overall funding for drug treatment prevention programmes, as prevention programmes are just one of a number of initiatives which health boards finance from their overall allocations. For example, a major part of the work of addiction counsellors and outreach workers is on drug prevention initiatives such as education, one to one counselling, group counselling, advice and drug workshops. Coupled with this, information campaigns and various voluntary projects make up other drug prevention programmes.

The total amount of money allocated annually to health boards for drug treatment and prevention has increased steadily since 1992. For example, the allocation to health boards for these programmes in 1995 was approximately £13 million. This figure will increase by £4 million in 1996.

The Government's strategy on drug demand reduction measures aims at reducing the number of people turning to drug misuse through information, education and prevention programmes. The recent Government decisions on drug demand reduction measures emphasised that there should be further development of education and prevention programmes.

Each health board has been asked by my Department to produce proposals for such programmes and these will be supported by funding from my Department.

Pat Upton

Ceist:

152 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Health the measures, if any, that can be taken to deal with drug addicts who are not prepared to receive any treatment for their drug addiction. [12758/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): There is no statutory basis for compelling a drug misuser to undergo treatment, unless it is ordered by the Courts on foot of a conviction under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, 1977 and 1984. It is generally recognised that successful treatment outcomes for those addicted to drugs are achieved where drug misusers themselves are committed to undergoing treatment for their addiction.

It has also been recognised internationally that the provision of methadone maintenance programmes to intravenous drug misusers can be a first step in the process of getting somebody addicted to drugs to deal with his/her addiction.