Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 13 Oct 1999

Vol. 509 No. 2

Written Answers. - Drugs Task Force.

John Perry

Ceist:

65 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the amount of funding to date which has been drawn down by the local drugs task forces; the plans, if any, he has to establish local drug task forces in other parts of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19982/99]

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Mr. Flood)

The Government allocated £10 million to support the implementation of over 200 projects in the action plans of the local drugs task forces. This funding 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 £8.1 million has been drawn down by these Departments and agencies to date.

Following a positive independent evaluation and review of the operation of the task forces, the Government approved their continuation for a further two years and have allocated an additional £15 million over two years to enable them to update their action plans. This funding will be available from the beginning of next year and will also allow issues which cut across all task force areas to be addressed. These issues will be identified by the task forces themselves in the course of preparing their action plans.

The local drugs task forces were set up in disadvantaged areas experiencing the highest levels of illicit drug use, particularly heroin abuse. While the use of illicit drugs is a nation-wide phenomenon, heroin abuse presents particular problems because of its public health implications and close association with crime. In determining the designation of the task force areas, therefore, the focus has been on those areas which have a high incidence of heroin abuse. The criteria used for determining such areas are: drug treatment data from the health services; Garda crime statistics; data relating to school attendance/ drop-out; and other relevant data on the levels of social and economic disadvantage in the area. Based on these criteria, Bray was designated a task force area, following a recent review. This brings to 14 the number of task forces which have been set up.

A review of the overall national drugs strategy has also commenced. This review will take account of the measures being undertaken to tackle drug misuse and the adequacy of these responses in the light of emerging trends in drug misuse nationally, with a view to making recommendations to Government on future drugs policy.