Vol. 497 No. 5
54 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation when the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion and Drugs will undertake a major review of the overall national drugs strategy as announced on 31 October 1998; when the review will be completed; when the committee last met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22556/98]
55 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the amount of money allocated and paid out to date under the measures proposed by the ministerial task force to reduce the demand for drugs; if he has received and considered the external evaluation of the drugs initiative; the findings, if any, in this regard; the proposals, if any, he will bring to Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25558/98]
60 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation if his attention has been drawn to the clear links established between the abuse of hard drugs and the incidence of poverty, deprivation and social exclusion in specific urban areas; and the plans, if any, he has to tackle this social problem. [20062/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 55 and 60 together.
The Government is fully aware of the links between heroin misuse and social exclusion in specific urban areas and is fully committed to tackling the problem of drug abuse in the context of the wider issue of social and economic exclusion.
A Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion has been established under the chairmanship of the Taoiseach to address issues relating to social exclusion. I report to this committee on the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy and the Local Development Programme.
Under the National Drugs Strategy, local drugs task forces have been set up in Dublin and north Cork city to develop locally based, integrated responses to the drug problem in the worst affected parts of these cities.
The Government has allocated £10 million to support the implementation of action plans prepared by the local drugs task forces. As projects approved in the plans come on stream, funding is drawn down through Departments and agencies identified as appropriate channels for funding. The pace of drawdown is increasing as more projects get up and running. To date, over £5.3 million has been drawn down to implement over 160 of the 234 approved projects, which are mostly community-based.
A report on an external evaluation of the drugs initiative was recently considered by the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion. The evaluation found that the task forces have achieved a number of significant successes in the short time since they were established and that their existence has provided a strong focus for tackling drugs issues in target areas, reducing the feeling of isolation felt by many local communities and preventing a potentially critical solution from developing into a downward spiral of economic deprivation, addiction and crime.
Arising from recommendations in the evaluation, the Cabinet committee has agreed, in principle, to the continuation of the local drugs task forces for the time being to facilitate the putting in place of an evaluation framework which includes: clear statements of the overall aim of the initiative, the specific objectives arising from this aim and the specific targets arising from these objectives, quantified where possible; and appropriate macro—level monitoring arrangements to allow performance against stated objectives and targets to be measured.
Meanwhile, a full review of task forces, having regard to the findings and recommendations of the evaluation, has already begun with a view to submitting a more detailed response to the Cabinet committee at an early date.
