Seán Ryan
Ceist:81 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that all moneys allocated to fighting illegal drug abuse will be spent. [3449/99]
Vol. 500 No. 1
81 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that all moneys allocated to fighting illegal drug abuse will be spent. [3449/99]
The Government allocated £10 million to support the implementation of nearly 230 separate initiatives in action plans prepared by the local drugs task force which were set up to develop and implement an integrated response to the drugs problem in their areas and involve local communities in the planning, design and implementation of that response.
Funding for this initiative is held in the Vote of my Department and is transferred, on request as projects become operational, to other Departments and agencies, which are acting as channels of funding to the approved projects. Approximately £5.6 million has been drawn down by these Departments and agencies to date and around 80 per cent of the projects are drawing down funding.
An important feature of the initiative is the engagement of local communities in the design and planning of strategies to respond to the drugs problem in their areas and in the implementation of approved projects. In the majority of cases, this has been undertaken by voluntary and community groups, in partnership with relevant statutory agencies and assisted by the local drugs task forces. It is hoped that this approach will assist the viability and sustainability of these projects and facilitate their future mainstreaming. However, a vital prerequisite to achieving this is the need to develop the capacity of community and voluntary organisations to deliver locally-based drug programmes and services.
In the task force areas where strong community structures were in place prior to the setting up of the initiative, the emphasis in the action plan was on developing and expanding those structures. Accordingly, in such areas, it was possible to get the majority of approved projects up and running relatively quickly. It is notable that these areas either had a long tradition of community involvement in responding to the drugs problem or had a local partnership company which had established a strong community network in the area. Conversely, in the areas where community networks were less developed, the emphasis in the plans was on building up these structures and, as a result, it has taken longer to get projects off the ground.