Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I would never seek to gainsay the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's syntax. Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the drug treatment court while it was in session and to meet some of the participants in the specially designed programme. The drug treatment court is a progressive innovation aimed at the rehabilitation of persons with addiction problems who have committed non-violent offences. It only deals with clients referred from two postal districts in the north inner city and was established as a permanent court in 2006. The aim of the court is the reduction of crime through rehabilitation of the offender, but it does not exclude punishment should the circumstances so warrant.

In addition to the judge, the drug court team comprises a court co-ordinator, a probation and welfare officer, a garda, a clinical health nurse and an education officer. The court's programme includes the provision of medical attention, counselling and educational and vocational modules. The progress of the offender on the programme is regularly monitored by the court. The judge is expected to give effective leadership and to be a motivator, enforcer and sanctioner. Each member of the team at pre-court meetings, which are held in private, provides verbal reports on aspects of the participants engagement with the programme. This could include urine screens, attendances at clinics, meetings, counselling sessions, assessments, motivation and engagement, family circumstances, medical reports and whether further charges or convictions have been brought. A full picture of the participant gradually becomes apparent to the court.

Initially defendants appear in court every week to account for their progress. Sanctions and incentives are employed by the court on a carrot and stick basis to encourage and reward progress and sanction failure to comply. The prize is avoiding a custodial sentence and having charges struck out on graduation from the programme.

The Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform recently stated to the Committee of Public Accounts:

I am disappointed with its low output and am not convinced any longer that is the way we should go. An evaluation is under way and we hope it will be completed by the end of the year. Consultation is also taking place with the Judiciary and we will see where that goes...while it was started with the best of intentions, the production level of the court does not justify extending the model elsewhere. It is not working and we must go back to the drawing board.

Does the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy John Curran, hold the same view as the Secretary General? Furthermore, I ask whether the evaluation is complete, what its conclusions are and when it will be published.

In so far as I can see, the only reason the throughput is not higher are the obstacles in the way of expanding the remit of the drug treatment court to include the entire city of Dublin. These obstacles pertain to the inability of other agencies, such as the HSE, to provide the necessary support services but they can be resolved if the political will exists to do so. I am sure the drug treatment court is an expensive innovation. However, I am equally sure it is not as expensive as the alternative of custodial care for a majority of drug abusers. Everywhere throughout urban Ireland we see the consequences of drug pushing and drug abuse and the incalculable cost of the damage being done by recidivist abusers.

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