Co-Chairman (Deputy David Stanton):

As we are almost at the end of the meeting, I thank the Minister of State and his officials for their attendance today. It was an interesting and engaging meeting. I noted one or two points. The Minister of State initially spoke about a focus on supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research and then he spoke about inter-agency working in a difficult cross-cutting policy and service area. This encapsulates the challenge and as someone mentioned earlier, the Sports Council has a full-time chief executive officer who is focused on sports and on sports only. Perhaps there is a need for somebody, perhaps somebody already is doing this, to pull together everybody, all the agencies and Departments, and to work with the Minister of State on a full-time basis. This might be something worth considering.

I also wish to mention the issue of youth work. The Minister of State or perhaps someone else earlier this morning noted that students do not live in school, which is a good comment as they do not. They live in communities and in homes. Very often, if youngsters are engaged in out-of-school formal youth settings, one can have outreach there as well and this is an area that might be expanded and explored and which might be worth considering. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan mentioned this earlier but in Portugal, members noted the importance of the local treatment centres.

People have somewhere local to go so they do not have to travel long distances for treatment.

I wish to bring the Minister of State's attention to the amazing work done by the Churchfield Community Trust in Cork and ask him to visit it at some stage. The Cornmarket Project in Wexford also does amazing work with people who are really challenged. I visited both and have met the people involved. Next week representatives from Churchfield Community Trust will come before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to make a presentation on the very impressive work they do. Colleagues have said such work is being done throughout the country.

The Minister of State said many people have multiple complex interlocking needs such as poverty, housing, poor health, education and mental health issues. The challenges are massive. I speak for all colleagues when I say that the sense I have is that everybody is behind the Minister of State in the work he wants to do and he has full support. If I am wrong I ask people to pick me up on it, but I sense a real impatience to get on with it, that the Minister of State should do what he needs to do and that he will not have resistance. People will be impatient to get on and have this dealt with. This is above politics. It is life and death for many people and we want to give the Minister of State fair wind to get on with it. The idea of committees coming together like this is useful because it is cost-cutting. As Chairman of the Working Group of Committee Chairmen I will explore with colleagues whether we can do this to give the Minister of State further support.