I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 15, inclusive, together.
As the Deputies will be aware, the previous Government established a Cabinet committee on drugs, chaired by the Taoiseach, to give overall political leadership in the fight against drugs; review all trends in the drugs problem; assess progress in the strategy to deal with it; and resolve any policy or organisational difficulties which may inhibit an effective response to the problem.
Recognising the links between social exclusion, drug abuse and alienation, the present Government decided that the most strategic way to tackle the problem of social exclusion was to reconstitute the drugs committee into a wider Cabinet committee which would address disadvantage in the broadest sense. This committee — which continues to be chaired by the Taoiseach but whose membership has been expanded to include other relevant Ministers, such as Finance and Social, Community and Family Affairs — links together the work being done under the local development operational programme and the national anti-poverty strategy, as well as the national drugs strategy.