Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 44, 51, 53 and 88 together.

I have been aware for some time of the anecdotal evidence of increased cocaine prevalence and, for this reason, last year I asked the national advisory committee on drugs and the national drugs strategy team to prepare a briefing paper on cocaine. This paper was presented at the last interdepartmental group on drugs meeting in September 2006. The paper did not involve new research, rather it arose from an examination of sources such as crime data, drug seizure figures and data from hospital and drug services. While more detailed evidence on cocaine will arise from the drug prevalence survey, which is currently in progress nationwide, available indicators point to increased use of cocaine.

The Departments and agencies listed as being responsible for the implementation of the recommendations of the briefing paper have been asked to give their reactions to the relevant suggestions and it is proposed to discuss their responses further at tomorrow's meeting of the interdepartmental group on drugs. The recommendation on dedicated cocaine clinics will be looked at in this context, as will the issue of the stigma that many middle class people feel about receiving drug treatment. However, in the broader context, I believe we should work towards having drug services that can cater for the individual problem drug user, regardless of the drugs they use.

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