Ms Aoife Bairéad:

I thank the Chair and members of the committee for inviting us. I am the chair of the Canal Communities Drug and Alcohol Task Force, and the chair of the Local Drugs and Alcohol Chairpersons Network.

We have a strong collaborative relationship with the Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force Co-ordinators Network, and I am joined by Mr. Jim Doherty, chair of the co-ordinators network.

Local drugs and alcohol task forces were established over 25 years ago to develop an effective response to the harmful impact of drug use in our communities across the country. Central to this initiative was the involvement of local communities in the development of the services they needed to deal with the problems created by drugs use. Since then, task forces have been at the forefront of innovation and development of these services, often leading the statutory services because of their more flexible and responsive nature, and their connections to the communities in which they are situated. We are often first to know and understand new challenges or risks that communities face and ensure that statutory and national services are made aware of these. We believe this foundation in the communities we represent remains our most vital strength, and if the recommendations of the citizens' assembly are to be pursued and be effective, task forces must have a central role in ensuring this success.

The citizens' assembly undertook extraordinary work and commitment to offer the Government a comprehensive plan to address the needs of individuals and communities impacted by drugs. We would also like to commend the members of the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use on their recent interim report, which further strengthens this plan. We welcome the re-establishment of this committee under the present Government and look forward to collaborating with it to make the recommendations of these reports become a reality for the people and communities who have waited far too long for this reform.

Without key aspects such as the establishment of a coherent health-led approach to drug use, alcohol use and addiction, and the decriminalisation of drug use, our communities will continue to suffer significant and avoidable harm. The negative impacts of drug and alcohol use are systemic and complex. The assembly and the previous committee aptly named poverty, social exclusion and trauma as key contributors to the harm drugs and alcohol can create. Given this, the realignment of HSE regions that will distribute funding based on population, without consideration for other factors, will undermine the ability of task forces to resource the services adequately and equitably. This is at a time task forces have endured years of cuts and underfunding. During the period from 2010 to date, health expenditure has increased by 75% while task forces have seen their funding decrease by 4.5% and have seen their resources steadily reduced over the past ten years. This situation is incompatible with a continued leading role for task forces, and with task forces being able to implement either their obligations under the national drugs strategy or the recommendations of the citizens' assembly.

The work has been done to ensure that the future of drugs policy in Ireland can be established with the goal to not just reduce the harmful impact of drug use, but also to ensure that communities thrive and flourish, lessening the factors that lead to problematic drug use. Moving from policy to practice requires the commitment and collaboration of statutory, community and voluntary stakeholders. Vitally, it requires the voices of the people whose lives are most impacted by these experiences. While task forces are a critical part of the successful delivery of State-funded services in communities, we are also a means by which communities can hold the State accountable to them in ensuring their needs are met adequately and appropriately. There can be no real evaluation of service delivery and the successful impact of policy without us retaining this essential function. National, top-down approaches cannot, and will not, have the same impact as locally informed and locally driven service provision. It is a significant waste of resources and an inefficient way to ensure that the policies have the impact that they should. Similarly, funding that is distributed through national budgets and statutory agencies is not reaching task forces effectively, and sometimes not at all. It inhibits and at times prevents the timely, responsive services that are critical to the purpose and function of the task forces. Funding for task forces should be separate and direct, recognising the mandate and responsibility that we have to the State and to our communities.

Re-establishing proper, collaborative working relationships with State Departments is key to bringing these new policies to the table. The current national drugs strategy sought information sessions with various stakeholders, however, there has to date been no collaboration or co-ordination of local drugs and alcohol task forces and the Department to develop this strategy. This is extremely worrying, especially given the suggestion that alcohol would be removed from this remit. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how vulnerable people use drugs, including alcohol. Whether it is funded or not, or included or not, our services will meet people who rely on alcohol and drugs, alongside other strategies such as food and gambling. What does change if this work is funded and recognised is that we can ensure that the service people receive is as coherent and integrated as possible. This is the only way to offer services based on best practice. It is also the most effective and responsible way of using funding and resources as it reduces replication, ensures co-ordinated passage through services for service users and their families, and allows for a more considered and detailed evaluation of service delivery and effectiveness. Alcohol was added to the remit of the task forces without additional funding. This funding is essential to our ongoing work and efficacy within the reality of the lives of those who use our services.

As mentioned, task forces are often the first to respond to the changing or additional needs of communities. Ireland’s growing and ever more diverse population is changing how services can and should be delivered in this key area. Of particular concern is the lack of a coherent strategy for engagement with drugs and alcohol use among refugees and international protection-seekers, despite people presenting as being in urgent and immediate need of these services. There needs to be an immediate additional support for task force services, to ensure that we meet this need well, effectively, and with the appropriate unique supports to ensure that their engagement is safe and respectful.

If the Government is to be successful in meeting the goals of the national drugs strategy, the recommendations of the citizens' assembly and the more recent recommendations of the previous Oireachtas committee on drugs, a substantial change in approach and engagement will need to be introduced. It is important that the agenda of Government is not frustrated by the strategies of individual agencies, and we need to be seen as meaningful partners in this work. Given this we are proposing the following-----