In preparing for the EU Presidency the previous Government sought to make the drugs menace its theme. It was a decision consistent with the exceptional measures both on the criminal law side and on the demand reduction strategy side that the Rainbow Government put in place domestically to confront the worsening drugs problem. For a decade or more successive Governments had neglected to tackle the drugs problem which is primarily an opiates problem, mainly heroin. I was pleased that my party, Democratic Left, played a lead role in transforming Government policy towards the drugs crisis. The measures and strategies put in place by the previous Government can only be reversed at society's peril. The drugs problem has taken root and the damage done has been severe in terms of human life and misery inflicted on entire communities. On all sides of the House and, perhaps more importantly outside in the communities ravaged by the drugs scourge, there has been a welcome for both the first and second reports of the ministerial task force, of which I was chairman.
After years of neglect that induced alienation and hostility in the communities worst affected, the mood has been transformed to one of positive co-operation and hope. The single most important factor in this transformation is the partnership concept at the heart of the 13 local task forces we set up. Almost without exception these have won the support of the local communities and where previously there was objection, obstruction and hostility there is now support, commitment and co-operation. I am immensely proud of that success but unless my successor involves himself in continuing to give political leadership and in driving the implementation of the comprehensive recommendations devised, the serious outstanding problems will not be tackled effectively.
I avail of this opportunity to extend my best wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Flood, who is taking over that responsibility. He is a good choice for the job because he has an understanding of the phenomenon of deprivation and long-term unemployment that has contributed to the worsening heroin problem in this city. The drugs problem in Ireland is not merely about the abuse of opiates, it is clear to anybody who has studied the problem that the phenomenon of heroin, concentrated in Dublin, is the most serious and desperate aspect of the drugs menace. The Minister of State, Deputy Flood, is well qualified to continue the drive I am proud to have been a part of in the last Government. It was ungracious of the Minister, Deputy Cowen, not to acknowledge, as the Taoiseach and other Deputies did when on this side on the Fianna Fáil benches, the manner in which that ministerial task force in the previous Government transformed the fight back against the drugs menace. It has totally transformed the attitudes of these communities.
I listened carefully to Deputy Dennehy. I appreciate he was not a Member in the last Dáil and, therefore, may not have had the opportunity to read the reports. I do not wish to deal with the point he raised about the division of Cork by the River Lee and the reason there is a problem on the northside and not on the southside.
The 13 areas were selected essentially on the basis of the figures for those presenting for treatment. There is a direct link between drug abuse and multiple deprivation. That is a fact on the basis of expert advice. I am not challenging Deputy Dennehy's conviction that there is a drug problem outside that phenomenon and reports such as the ESBAD to which the Minister, Deputy Cowen, referred clearly show that to be the case. We cannot get away from the fact that there is a direct link between multiple deprivation and drug abuse.
The situation in Dublin was shamefully neglected by all Governments in the previous 15 years. The consequences are horrific in some of those communities. I was able to persuade the previous Government to resource the recommendations prepared in those two ministerial reports. The Government allocated £14 million to underpin the recommendations of the first report of the ministerial task force and £20 million in respect of the proposals in the second report. Unless the Minister of State, Deputy Flood, continues to give political leadership to this assault on drugs and unless he continues to drive the response agreed on all sides, and more importantly outside in the communities, it will not effectively tackle the phenomenon that has besieged these communities.
The report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction bears out the gravity of the drugs problem and especially draws attention to the phenomenon that has attracted less attention. It states:
The unprecedented number of Europeans, of an increasingly young age, who are using synthetic drugs such as ecstasy, LSD and amphetamines as part of youth culture, . the users are not from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds, but are for the most part young workers or students and relatively well off.
This may be the area to which Deputy Dennehy referred. The main value of the report is that it makes available to Governments comparable information on drugs and drug addiction throughout Europe. This is a valuable contribution even if it is not altogether clear that the methodology for collection of the raw data is consistent throughout. It appears different polling techniques are used, prompted to a large extent by a recognition that since the abuse of hard drugs is illegal, the problem is often hidden. It is no surprise to find Ireland missing from the comparative tables of serious drug abuse because it has surveyed the problem less systematically than some other countries claim to have done. For example, in respect of the opiates problem the first report of the ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs, of which I was chairman, concedes that: "we have no accurate count, but there could be up to 8,000 addicts in the greater Dublin region" and again "we have no accurate qualitative measure of the size of the problem.". It goes on to state: "we do have an indicator — statistics are compiled on the numbers of drug abusers presenting for treatment". That ministerial task force expressed the view that:
It is essential that every effort is made to obtain and compile valid, concrete data on the true extent of the drugs problem. This data is necessary in order, first, to accurately quantify the problem and also to provide the base for epidemiological analysis and modelling. Such epidemiological research is necessary to:
assist in the long-term targeting of drugs services;
ensure that an appropriate mix of services is provided, based on need; monitor progress and measure effectiveness; and help determine the appropriate level of Exchequer funding of the drugs services.
I understand from public statements that the reports of the ministerial task force established by the previous Government have been adopted by the Government. Its first report concluded that:
.the lack of valid, concrete information on the nature and extent of drug misuse in this country needs to be addressed. Notwithstanding the difficulties involved in compiling such information, there is a need for accurate research to assist in the longer term targeting of the drug services and to ensure that an appropriate mix of services is provided, based on the evidence for their need and effectiveness.
Since the Government has declared its commitment to overseeing the full implementation of the first report of the ministerial task force, will the Minister indicate the state of progress on the implementation of our recommendations in respect of databases?
On the face of it, the finding of the EMC report that an increasing number of young people are resorting to the use of synthetic drugs as part of a youth culture is the most interesting conclusion. I find it difficult to discern the reliability of the data listed. However I read comment from people at the coalface to the effect that only parents and politicians are surprised at the extent of the problem. If it means what it seems to mean, the claim, for example, that almost four out of ten school-going teenagers admit they have used cannabis is surprising. It is difficult to evaluate the seriousness of this conclusion. As one journalist put it, is the finding mitigated by "once behind the bicycle shed" bravado? It is not surprising that cannabis is the most used drug in the European Union.
The EMC report should be read with a major report from ESPAD on alcohol and other drug abuse among students in 26 European countries which I have just received and which has been the subject of comment by Nuala Haughey of The Irish Times who has followed the drugs crisis here. The report reveals that “Irish 16 year old students are top of the class of 26 European countries in terms of binge drinking”; second, after the United Kingdom, when it comes to taking cannabis or other illegal drugs and second, after the Faroe Islands, when it comes to smoking. These findings are not just surprising but shocking.
One conclusion of the ESPAD report that must be taken into account by the Minister and policy-makers generally is that teenagers in the main are introduced to drugs by their peers or siblings. Only 2 per cent of students who had taken illegal drugs said they had been introduced to them by strangers. Dr. Mark Morgan, a psychologist, who carried out the research among 1,900 16 year old students in 80 schools in 1995 is quoted by Nuala Haughey as saying: "The idea that some people have that there are pushers hanging round schools who give kids drugs and then hope they'll get them hooked and so on isn't the case". In other words, the link is not directly between the suppliers and the kids but rather kids are being supplied by other kids.
Dr. Morgan's conclusion is: "For policy-makers this shows clearly that prevention starts with friends and that you can't blame the supply of drugs for the drug problem". It is clear that prevention starts with friends but I am not convinced the supply of drugs is not part of the problem. However I reluctantly accept that no matter how effective the supply side measures are there will still be drugs available. The question therefore is if we can tackle the demand side effectively. This question dominated the first and second reports of the ministerial task force which dealt with a comprehensive strategy aimed at treatment, research and information, rehabilitation, education and prevention programmes. They also dealt with the questions of estate management, sports facilities, community policing and the allocation of resources.
When in Opposition, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, produced a report which he had blatantly cogged. If imitation is the best form of flattery, I accept the compliment. I welcome this because it means, as the Taoiseach said, the Government is committed to implementing the recommendations of the reports of the ministerial task force.
Some cosmetic changes have been made. As we have not yet had an opportunity to tease them out at Question Time — I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Flood, will deal with them — I am not sure whether they have been made for the sake of being different or whether they are meaningful.
I am not sure whether it was a good idea to abolish the ministerial task force. As the records will show, it met virtually once a week. Immense work was done and valuable evidence heard from experts such as the governor of Mountjoy Prison and representatives of the probation and welfare service, the Eastern Health Board and so on. It appears the ministerial task force is being supplanted by the Cabinet subcommittee of which the Taoiseach is chairman.
The structure established by the previous Government took the form of the local unit, the local drugs task force, a partnership between the local community and the various statutory agencies with responsibilities in this area. It reported to the ministerial task force which, in turn, reported to the Cabinet subcommittee which was chaired by the Taoiseach. As chairman of the ministerial task force, I was in a position to report directly to the Cabinet subcommittee, the secretary to which was an assistant secretary in the Department of the Taoiseach. That was an effective structure that went to the heart of decision-making. This was reflected in the allocation of resources. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Flood, or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, deal with this aspect of the matter?
The question of community policing seems to have been conveniently passed over by all concerned. Will Members on all sides cast their minds back to the marches and protests we witnessed virtually every night on our television screens and to the attempts made by certain persons to fill the vacuum by applying their own policing methods and taking direct action? Besieged communities on the streets of this city, particularly in my constituency, which did not receive an adequate response from the Garda Síochána, were sometimes satisfied to accept help from elsewhere. It was the recommendation of the ministerial task force that more Garda resources should be deployed in a community policing role. In the event the Garda Commissioner proceeded with Operation Dóchas on which I commend him and which has made a contribution. The Operation Dóchas concept is different from that of community policing. In some of these communities it ought to be a priority of policymakers that there be no alienation from the Garda Síochána, so that they can implement community policing in these worst affected areas.
I want to assure the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation that he will have my support in the lifetime of this Dáil. Perhaps he or the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy O'Dea, would clarify the position about the £20 million youth services development fund, one of the main proposals of the second report of the ministerial task force. Preventing an entire generation falling into the clutches of the drugs menace necessitates a strategy that makes available recreational and other opportunities for children who might otherwise resort to drug misuse.