Vol. 529 No. 2
80 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation the number of projects, if any, which have been approved for funding for 2001 arising from the report to Government by the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion and Drugs; the aggregate funding in respect of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26725/00]
I presume the Deputy is referring to projects funded under the action plans of the local drugs task forces. The task forces were asked in 2000 to prepare new plans to respond to the drug problem in their areas. No deadline was set for the submission of these plans, in order to give the task forces as much time as possible to develop their new strategies.
To date, seven updated plans have been received and these are currently being examined by the National Drugs Strategy Team. While no new proposals have yet been approved, recommendations on funding for elements of three of the plans are currently before the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion and a decision is expected shortly. It is anticipated that the remaining plans will be submitted over the coming months and forwarded to the Cabinet committee for approval in due course.
