Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The estimated expenditure of over €200 million on problem drug use in 2006 refers to spending across all Departments and agencies, rather than the figure for my Department alone. Through the interdepartmental group on drugs, relevant Departments and agencies reported on their 2006 expenditure and the total was in excess of €200 million. Of this amount, €41 million related to expenditure under the drugs initiative young people's facilities and services fund, funded through my Department. In this context, the figures, which should be interpreted as indicative, relate only to services that are considered to be directly attributable to dealing with problem drug use. The figure does not take account of many mainstream services that also assist in tackling problems associated with drugs misuse. It has not proved feasible to accurately segregate the funding aimed at assisting problem drug users from that aimed at the wider community. A breakdown of the 2006 expenditure is set out in the following table.

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