Mr. Paul Reid:

I suppose the answer is that it is all of the above. We would not disagree with much of what the Deputy said. On his point about what needs to change in terms of strategy, we have a number of recommendations. We talk about having clearer responsibilities and accountability and knowing who is responsible for delivering what across the spectrum of services. We should be producing an annual action plan on how we are performing against the strategy and measuring our good KPIs. We should be involving the people with lived experience and the community and voluntary groups that are involved in developing the strategy. We should be looking at the issue of dual diagnosis, which is an issue in many cases, particularly as there may be mental health issues involved. They are not simple problems but we are very specific in respect of them.

We outline some issues that have not been debated so far. With regard to the criminal justice system and the prisons, I was at a presentation yesterday at which I learnt that there are now 4,900 people in prison . Almost 70% of these people have some form of addiction, but there are no specific services in the prisons for them. With the help of the Chair, I spent some time in Mountjoy dealing with long-term prisoners and learning about some of the issues the Prison Service has to deal with. We outlined in the report that there is a complete lack of comprehensive or, in many cases, any services to support the Prison Service and the prison system.

We are very clear and specific on the strategy. We do not just say we should develop a new one but we have some very clear recommendations as to what should be in it.