Mr. Paul Collins:

It does not make sense. This has been the approach of the Department over the past ten years. There has been genuine exclusion of community organisations and representatives. To a certain degree, it makes the life of the Department easier because it can develop its content and structures within the strategy and implement it in the way it wants to without being challenged on it. There is a real worry about that aspect.

The reference group met for the first time last Thursday. I only found out the membership of the reference group last Monday by email. I forwarded the information to UISCE and Citywide. I mean no disrespect to the members of the committee, but it is a tokenistic structure in any format. A genuine response to substance abuse issues in a community requires us to be part of the national steering group in terms of the development of the strategy.