Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan for raising this important issue. I agree that we need to treat the matter with absolute urgency and assure the Deputy of the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne's commitment to it. As the Deputy is aware, a steering committee chaired by John Carr, former secretary general of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, was established in December 2015 to provide advice and guidance on the development of a new national drugs strategy, to take effect from 2017. The steering committee has spent almost 18 months developing the new policy. The process involved an extensive and comprehensive public consultation; a rapid review of the 2009 to 2016 strategy; the development of strategic actions through four key focus groups and a systematic review of international evidence on drugs interventions by the Health Research Board. I understand that a meeting to sign off on the final report of the steering committee will take place tomorrow, as the Deputy mentioned.

The Deputy will appreciate that it is a matter for the steering committee to deal with any outstanding issues in the context of finalising the report. However, I can outline in general terms the key issues which the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, believes will be addressed at tomorrow’s meeting. Regarding alcohol, my understanding is that the new policy will provide an integrated public health approach to substance misuse, which includes alcohol and illegal drugs. I am advised that the new policy will incorporate key actions from the national substance misuse strategy and provide a range of new actions, which will take account of other Government policies and strategies that address the risk factors for substance misuse. It is also expected that the new strategy will build on work undertaken by drug and alcohol task forces to raise awareness of alcohol-related harm within the community.

I have been informed that the new strategy will contain a specific objective aimed at building the resilience of communities to respond to the drug problem. This objective will also focus on communities affected by gang-related crime and the menace of drug-related intimidation, which the Deputy has raised. I am aware that some people living in these communities may be afraid to report drug-related intimidation due to fears of reprisals. For this reason, encouraging people to report drug-related intimidation by strengthening the existing reporting frameworks will be an important aspect of the new strategy.

Maintaining the focus on services for at-risk young people will also be important in order that they can avail of opportunities to participate constructively in community life. Finally, robust national structures will be needed to provide leadership and direction to ensure the effective implementation of the new strategy. All sectors will need to play their part in making the new structures successful, as no single Department or agency can solve these problems on its own. Measuring the collective input of all concerned and improving the performance of the different partners over the lifetime of the strategy will be supported through a new performance measurement system.

I understand the steering committee is expected to submit its final report on the new strategy to the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, shortly. The next stage will be to bring the Minister’s proposals on the new drugs strategy to Government, with a view to launching the policy before the end of the summer.

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