Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This issue is close to my heart. I look forward to the final report and the measures that will be put in place. I come from an area that has been ravaged by drugs since my early childhood. The time for local and national drugs task forces is gone. The model needs to be broken and we need to consider something completely different. It is difficult to see the work done by some local drugs task forces. I have a problem with this and I agree with the Minister that we are not getting value for money. There needs to be a new way of helping people addicted to drugs in the community in order that they are not sent to offices for counselling and so on. They can have that but something has to be done under the remit of GPs and the HSE because drugs task forces have moved away from their original remit, which was to look after people and their extended families in communities with drug problems.

It has become a national business now, and I will say that publicly as I have said it locally. I honestly believe it is time to crack open the model and do something different. I look forward to seeing this report because I really want to know what is inside it.