Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will get Deputy O'Reilly a detailed note on the breakdown and the impact. It is an important point. I have some detail here that I am happy to share. Much of the additional funding in 2016 was provided to service providers to improve their own services and meet their own unmet need. I will get the Deputy more detail.

There are a couple of important points to make on Deputy Durkan's and Deputy O'Reilly's question, which relates to breaking the cycle and what we will do, apart from responding to the current crisis. There are a couple of pieces to this issue. The new national drugs strategy, which will be published shortly by my colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, is an important part. Supervised injecting facilities are a very important element. The Oireachtas will be showing political leadership in tackling this issue. We will be following on from something that works very well in many other cities if we establish the first pilot supervised injecting facility in our capital city in 2017. Items such as the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill are very important measures that will require political leadership in the Houses of the Oireachtas which I hope will be forthcoming from all parties, including our own, in addressing that issue.

The powerful message sent from the Oireachtas after the statements in the Dáil last night on recognising Travellers as a distinct ethnic group cannot be the end. There is now a need to follow on. The development of the national Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy is being undertaken by the Department of Justice and Equality. My Department is feeding into that from a health perspective by addressing the unmet health needs and addressing how one can interact with the Traveller community to make sure Travellers access the health services that are available. Funding was available under the dormant accounts fund for 2016 and 2017 and this is being used to support a number of marginalised service users.

Two projects being funded include a mobile health screening unit and an intercultural health project for refugees. The objective of the mobile health screening unit is to provide an accessible targeted screening and primary care service to a wide range of marginalised service users in settings such as hostels, prisons, direct provision centres, refugee reception centres and orientation centres. The intercultural health project for refugees will support the delivery of a range of health services to meet the emerging needs of new residents of the emerging reception and orientation centres established in Clonee and Monasterevin. A third EROC is due to open shortly. We have been having discussions on housing and homelessness and there is a need for an intergovernmental approach to that area.

Rebuilding Ireland, under the leadership of my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, shows the pathway forward, but there is a role for my Department and me to play in that area and I am willing to do it. I hope the additional funding will help in that regard.