Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is embarrassed reading such a reply. For example, he stated "every effort has been made to protect the budgets of drug and alcohol task forces in recent years." We know for a fact that they have been gutted, in some cases by 20% or 30%. There is talk of reinstating the funding for drug task forces but what is needed is an increase in funding. As the Minister of State said, the problem is getting worse. If we are serious about tackling the drug problem the pillars must be in place. Let us examine who is sitting around the table. More often than not the Garda is not present. The HSE has not been present at the past two meetings and it has been said it might not be there in the future. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is not present and neither is the Department of Education and Skills. The people involved in all those key elements in terms of policy to tackle drugs are not sitting around the table with the community. Those in the community ask what will be done. We do not have confidence in the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne. The problem is getting worse and we do not see anyone trying to come up with new ideas or trying to support communities that are trying to combat the drug problem in their area. The situation is getting worse not better and that is due to the Government.

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