Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Rabbitte for raising the issue and I acknowledge the contribution that Mr. Fergus McCabe has made through his membership as community representative of the national drugs strategy team. He has been involved, as Deputy Rabbitte said, since the start of the drugs issue. His efforts against drugs misuse over many years have been known and that work is greatly appreciated.

Furthermore, I acknowledge the efforts made by community workers generally, many of them in a voluntary capacity, on the ground over the past ten years or so. That input at local level forms a key part of the Government's overall efforts against the misuse of drugs.

Drug misuse remains a major challenge for us all. The pain and damage arising from it remains a very real and urgent problem in many communities. Work between the statutory agencies and voluntary communities must go on, as it is doing. There are many encouraging signs as well, as I am sure the Deputy recognises, such as drugs seizures, the expansion of treatment services, targeted prevention programmes and the setting up of the regional drugs task forces. There is no room for complacency, however. It might be more relevant to address some of the points made by the Deputy.

I am not threatening partnership in any way. Co-operation between statutory and voluntary groups is a key strategy for what we are trying to do. I am not threatening, neither do I need to, that which I regard as fundamental to the issue. Mr. McCabe indicated some months ago that he wanted to resign. It may be that he wants to move on or wishes to reduce his involvement which has been considerable over the years. That is a matter for Mr. McCabe. The task forces, however, are doing great work locally.

It is important to emphasise that since Deputy Rabbitte set up the project in 1997, about €200 million has been allocated to support the work. There are a couple of hundred community based projects operating under the young people's services funds. As regards the professionals being in charge, there are 600 staff working in this area. In Deputy Rabbitte's early days, I do not believe he ever dreamt that 600 people would be employed under programmes that started through his original plan. Whether one calls them professional they are performing a key role.

The emerging needs fund was proposed last year to deal with emerging need". Suddenly it has been blown up into a major "round tree" and all sorts of plans have been submitted. Some people do not like the fact that while €1 million was proposed, €9 million worth of projects are being advanced. We cannot meet all those in the short term.

However, there is no breach of trust or partnership whatsoever. I very much want to continue to work as we have been doing. I accept that a campaign has started, for what reason, frankly, I do not know. As regards some of the issues the Deputy spoke about concerning treatment in community clinics, if there are other underlying issues to do with the HSE I would like to have them documented. From the Department's and my viewpoint, however, I very much believe in working with the community. The work we are doing with the local drugs task forces and now the regional drugs task force is important. I hope we can get matters back on the road.

People are talking about cutbacks and all sorts of nonsense. This year the funding for the drugs area was increased by 18%. The preliminary figure for next year is for another 8% increase. When the Revised Estimates are done in January I am confident there will be extra money. However, just because there is an 18% increase in one year does not necessarily mean that this can be matched every year. There is a limit to what can be spent, regardless of whether the country is doing well. I accept that the ambitions of some people on the emerging needs fund has been blown out of all proportions. However, I am confident that we will be able to meet a number of the good projects that have come forward, though not necessarily all of them. Many of the suggestions do not relate to emerging needs. They reflect people wanting more and more for different programmes. That was not the intention and we cannot do that.. Nonetheless, I am very hopeful we will be able to fund many of the ideas coming forward to meet the emerging needs that exist.

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