John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

The establishment of the new office will facilitate much better co-ordination over a range of issues.

With regard to head shops, the Deputy understands my personal view. I have grave concerns about these shops. As the Deputy knows, we have taken action on BZP and we will be considering other substances that are available.

In case there is any misunderstanding, I will clarify that I am currently the Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy and I will continue to be on establishment of the new office. It is important that the interim arrangements, which have been working for the last six or eight weeks, are brought to a conclusion. It is important that we have finality and that a proper structure in place. The Government decision of yesterday will allow us to establish this. I hope it happens within a matter of weeks; I am not talking about postponing it. The net effect will be the targeting of our considerable resources in a much more effective way, clarity in what we are doing, and effectiveness in evaluating and monitoring outcomes.

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