Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, although I do not agree that there are encouraging signs of progress. The report he refers to was published almost a year ago and those who wrote it might change their minds in the current climate, with people being shot and drug usage increasing. We are going backwards in terms of the availability of drugs. Drugs are widespread and readily available in every town and village in the country and usage has increased considerably. Regardless of what a report indicates, the Minister of State knows that drug usage has increased. Progress may have been made in implementing some of the strategy's recommendations but progress has not been made in tackling the overall drug problem.

A major part of the drug strategy was the introduction of regional drugs task forces. These task forces were set up three or four years ago and their plans were finally submitted last September, although many of these were simply a copy of the national plan. A sum of €5 million was allocated and we now discover that less than 13% of that has been spent or drawn down. Only 4% was spent in the greater Dublin region, where there is an enormous drug problem, and 0% was spent in the midlands, despite the fact that several reports have indicated a major increase in the use of cocaine and other drugs.

What does the Minister propose to do to ensure the money is spent and results are achieved? I have spoken to people involved in the regional task forces who are not happy with the progress made to date. In some areas, staff have resigned. What is the problem and why is there a delay in spending the money? I complained in the past about the delay in publishing the plans. The plans finally arrived but now the money is not being spent. I have been told that staff in the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs are selecting certain elements from the plans and making recommendations on what should be funded. I do not know if that is true but my understanding was that if a task force produced a plan, it would be allocated funding and directed to implement that plan. The task forces spent four years designing their plans and the Department should back off.

Money is not being spent but it is likely that next December or January, the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, and other Ministers will hand over large cheques and smile for photographers in the run-up to the general election. That will be next year's money. It is a shame. Let us spend the money now and get results.

Community policing was highlighted in most of the regional drugs task force plans as an essential element of the way forward. Much ranting and raving has taken place in the past few days over the figures for the Garda Síochána and the fact that numbers have dropped in many places. In my home town of Navan, there are seven fewer gardaí than there were 20 years ago. In the greater Dublin area, there were only two more gardaí.

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