John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On page 136 of A Programme for Partnership Government there is a commitment to support the expansion of local drug task force projects. The Taoiseach will be aware that there were reductions in funding in 2012, 2013 and 2014 for all local and regional drug and alcohol task forces while in the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 funding has remained at the 2014 level. That is despite the fact that in the latter years, the Department of Health and the HSE have seen significant increases in their annual budgets. The Taoiseach will also be aware that the projects these task forces support represent services which are often not provided by statutory bodies or agencies, in particular in the area of education awareness and prevention, where they play a huge role. To meet the commitment the Government has made there must be a change in the budgetary allocation. They are operating at 2014 notwithstanding the reference in the programme for Government to the expansion of those projects. Can the Taoiseach make a commitment today that he will review the funding model for these task forces?

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