Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State said that the central funding would come from the Minister for Finance. My colleague, Deputy Byrne, raised the issue of the Criminal Assets Bureau and she has a valid point. The people selling drugs are the ones creating havoc on the streets. The Minister of State should talk to the Minister for Finance about taking funding from the proceeds of CAB to pay for the recovery of people who have serious drug problems. It could be used for detox beds and other facilities. These people do not get the same support as those in other sectors of the community because of the problems they have. That is not right, because the issue affects everybody in their communities, including their families, neighbours and friends. It is important that funding is put in place for this. It should be the number one priority. There is to be a dedicated office, but there is no point in setting it up if the funding is not there to run the office and the services.

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