Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

This is a timely motion, given the appointment of my colleague, Deputy White, as the new Minister of State with responsibility for drug and alcohol policy. The media discussion in recent weeks has been all about the politics of health and I thank Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan for giving Members this opportunity to return to the policy and vision they have for the health service and, in particular, to focus on addiction services. I wish to take this opportunity to commend the former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, on her work in this area during her brief tenure. In particular, I thank her for the support she offered to me in respect of drug projects in Ballyfermot, which I represent. Deputy Shortall was not the first Labour Party Minister to address this issue and nor will she be the last. In 1997, the then Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, set up 13 local drugs task forces, including one in Ballyfermot. These task forces form the central plank of intervention in many communities. The Government has made €31 million available to support the activities of drugs task forces this year, which is very welcome. The job of reviewing these task forces now falls to the new Minister of State, Deputy White. This review will seek to strengthen the effectiveness of the drugs task forces and improve accountability and I wish the Minister of State every success in that role.

The problem of addiction cannot be tackled by the Department of Health alone. The national addiction strategy and the programme for Government recognise this and with this in mind, the previous Government mainstreamed funding for community drug projects across a variety of Departments. However, since 2008 when Ministers were faced with reduced budgets, it was such mainstream funding, which was not considered to be a core activity of those Departments, which was the first to go. The Minister of State, Deputy White, alluded to the streamlining of funding arrangements for community drug projects as part of his review and this would bring welcome clarity and security to projects. The Ballyfermot Star project, which provides much-needed counselling and support services to substance abusers and their families is one such project that lost its mainstream funding from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government last year. Consequently, it was necessary to campaign last year to secure the project a one-year reprieve by sourcing the necessary funding through the Minister, Deputy Hogan, and Dublin City Council, thereby securing the position of three key members of staff for the Ballyfermot Star project in 2012. As a new year approaches, the future of such projects again is in doubt. I hope the new Minister of State will prioritise and protect this most valuable service, recognise its value as a template for interventions in other communities and ensure the necessary funding will be made available in the budget for 2013.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy White, every success in tackling the scourge of drug and alcohol misuse in society.

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