John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Before I address the Deputy's question, I want to clarify that at the moment there are quite a number of family support projects. Around 120 such projects are being run by local drugs task forces, while the regional drugs task forces are running 50 projects that have been identified as providing primarily family support. During the public consultation period for the new national drugs strategy, the issue raised by the Deputy came through loud and clear, with regard to both family support and grandparents who are primary carers. As the Deputy knows, the steering group, which consists of representatives of the key statutory, community and voluntary interests, is going through the deliberations. I have no doubt that the specific issues of family support and grandparents are being considered for the new strategy.

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