Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I think it was Deputy English's colleague, Deputy McGinley. A great deal of good work was done. My constituency colleague, Deputy Rabbitte, who was then Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, did important work. When the Government changed in 1997, my party colleague, Chris Flood, whom I replaced here, continued that work. From 1997 to 2000, Chris dealt with the drugs situation as Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation under the then Minister, Deputy McDaid. Chris, like Deputy Rabbitte before him, and Deputy Eoin Ryan after him, made a strong contribution to dealing with the drugs scourge in our communities, particularly in the Dublin region.

I recall Fergus McCabe, who has had his own difficulties recently, saying at a well attended public meeting in Dublin that he never voted for Fianna Fáil but if he had been ever tempted to do so it would have been because of the work of Chris Flood. I am sure he will not mind my repeating that tonight. Chris has a proud record in that regard. Before retiring from politics and becoming chairman of the Tallaght drugs task force, he established the young people's facilities and services fund. Many areas, including my constituency, which I share with Deputy Crowe, have benefited significantly from that fund.

Projects which benefited from that fund include Brookfield community youth facility which is under construction, the Brookfield youth at risk project, the Jobstown community sports facility, namely, the all-weather pitch, which is a great amenity in Tallaght west, the Killinarden and Fettercairn community centres, which were redeveloped, the Springfield community youth project, the Tallaght Travellers youth service, and the St. Mark's youth and community centre project in the Farm in Fettercairn. Several other major initiatives began too. For example, three major facility projects have been developed under the premises initiative, something of which we in Tallaght are very proud, in the St. Aengus community action group, the jazz centre in Jobstown and the CARP project in Killinarden.

Several community responses have been successful in the Tallaght area in this regard, for example, the St. Dominic's community response group, the jazz group in Jobstown, the St. Aengus project, the CARP project in Killinarden, the project in Brookfield, the Fettercairn project and the Tallaght rehabilitation project which operates in Kiltalown House in Jobstown and on whose board I have had the honour of serving.

The Tallaght rehabilitation project believes:

. . . in the advantage of rehabilitation within the community, as addiction does not happen in isolation.

Our aim is to create a supportive and nurturing environment where participants are encouraged to address their previous drug use and in so doing, can become and remain drug free.

The project promotes a healthy lifestyle in a structured and safe way, through education and training. From there participants are encouraged to make an informed choice to become and remain drug free. My colleagues will join me in supporting that group.

The pilot project in the Tallaght area dealing with the scourge of cocaine use is run jointly by the St. Dominic's community response group, situated in St. Dominic's Road in Tallaght, and the CARP group in Killinarden. This project has completed its work and been evaluated. When I and my colleagues, including Deputy Crowe, mentioned it to the Minister of State at the Department for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Noel Ahern, he was very responsive to its needs. He has made it clear that additional moneys are being allocated to the project which will allow it to continue to operate until the Department has received and assessed the evaluation report. There was some concern on that issue and I am glad it has been resolved. I acknowledge the assistance of the Minister of State because it is important to support this project.

I am also glad that the Minister of State has accepted an invitation to visit Tallaght again where, at the institute of technology, he will award the annual certificates issued by the CARP group. I look forward to welcoming the Minister of State there.

Apart from the services I have mentioned, there remain gaps in the service in Tallaght and there is work to do. We must continue to support the work of the Tallaght task force which was chaired by Chris Flood, followed by Mick Duff, an activist in St. Aengus, and is now chaired by Anna Lee from the Tallaght Partnership.

I do not wish to speak in a negative way about Tallaght but there are challenges there and those of us who represent the area need to mention them. There is a need to examine the continuing care provided for people from the time they enter treatment, move to a private general practitioner, enter drug-free programmes and detoxification, and re-enter mainstream living. We need to understand the concerns about the growing number of people presenting with serious dependency on non-prescription and prescription drugs.

My contacts in Tallaght inform me that, while relations with the Health Service Executive have improved, there is a definite need to develop closer links for a more shared care approach. All the groups in Tallaght would want me to make that point. Drug-free rehabilitation centres are necessary and we should support access to them. While the waiting list for treatment has reduced significantly, six to eight weeks is too long to wait. My contacts say that FÁS should offer more community employment places for a community drug-free project. I ask the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Killeen, to convey that message to FÁS.

While drug services in Tallaght have improved, there is a need to join up services and to begin looking outside this particular box for treatment options. We must not be afraid to admit that there is a continuing problem. I am glad the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is present because I wish to repeat my call for more resources to be given to the Garda Síochána to deal with this scourge. It is important that we continue to work with the Garda Síochána to put drug dealers and drug barons out of business. I am glad the Garda drugs unit in Tallaght has been so helpful and successful in this regard.

See this speech in context