Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Health Service Executive has provided the Department with an update regarding the funding for the appointment of two clinical nurses for the Finglas Addiction Support Team through the Community Alcohol Response and Engagement, CARE, initiative.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the general manager for social inclusion and addiction in the Dublin north city has approved this programme. It is seen as a vital issue in combatting a community alcohol response. The two clinical nurse specialists will operate covering Finglas-Cabra, Ballymun and the regional task force area of Swords, Balbriggan and Howth.

Finglas Addiction Support Team will work in partnership with Ballymun action project and also the community care programme in Swords. This inter-agency approach will be a part of a clinical governance structure led by the Health Service Executive's director of nursing.

This Government is committed to tackling alcohol misuse in Ireland and the widespread harm and pain it causes. Alcohol is causing significant damage across the population, in workplaces and to children, and carries a substantial burden to all in society.

The Health Service Executive provides services to prevent and treat addiction to alcohol. Those who present for alcohol addiction treatment are offered a range of interventions namely, initial assessment, comprehensive assessment, the Minnesota programme, brief intervention, individual counselling, self-help, peer support or a combination of these. The delivery of these services is based on the four-tier model of treatment intervention and services are designed to respond to the individual's specific identified needs.

This care model implies that clients should be offered the least intensive intervention appropriate to their need when they present for treatment initially. Interventions range from community and family based supports, to primary care services through to specialist support services in either the community or residential settings.

Inter-agency working between the HSE, drug task forces and multiple other community, statutory and voluntary agencies form the basis of this delivery as the target is to provide services where possible in a community environment.

Counselling and rehabilitation services provide care to those presenting with an addiction through one-to-one counselling and onward referral to other statutory and voluntary groups where appropriate. The HSE also provides funding to a number of voluntary service providers which treat drug and alcohol addictions.

The Dublin North City and County Addiction Service commenced a cross task force pilot initiative in April 2013. This initiative, known as the Community Alcohol Response and Engagement, CARE, pilot project was rolled out on a phased basis across three task forces - Finglas, Ballymun and the regional task force - between September 2014 and June 2015. A review of this pilot project was published in September 2015.

CARE aims to provide a comprehensive treatment service for adults over 18 years presenting with a full range of alcohol related problems, to include brief intervention, information and education, one-to-one key working and motivational group programmes.

It is essential to have a public health policy response which seeks to reduce the number of people engaged in the harmful use of alcohol. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill contains a package of measures aimed at reducing alcohol consumption in Ireland to 9.1 litres per person per annum - the OECD average in 2012 - by 2020, and to reduce the harm associated with alcohol.

The Bill, along with other measures, will bring about a cultural shift in how we view and consume alcohol. As a consequence, we will see an improvement in both the physical and mental health well-being in the population. The Bill commenced Committee Stage in the Seanad on 26 October 2016, and will resume in this session of the Oireachtas.

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