John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for the questions. I refer to the last question on spending, an area which causes grave concern. It is very difficult to quantify the spend at any point in time because a partnership approach is taken. We can target the funding in respect of the community and voluntary sectors, so we know what we spend. However, it is not possible to do so in respect of the statutory agencies, including the Garda and the HSE. The intention is to continue the partnership approach. The statutory agencies have given a commitment in respect of the level of funding they will provide in the current year.

The Deputy asked why we are moving to a new structure. It became apparent that if we were to avoid duplication and take cognisance of concerns raised at the Committee of Public Accounts, the structures in place would not address them. There was much duplication between the NDST and the drugs strategy unit. The intention is to merge the functions of those.

The community sector had concerns about the new structure but it is fundamental that it is fully engaged with it, which I expect it to be. However, this is to avoid that duplication, to address concerns raised at the Committee of Public Accounts and to bring in overall efficiencies where people can be accountable and where we can have better governance, management and clear lines of communication from the projects in the communities, of which more than 600 are being supported, right through to the task forces and all the way up.

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