Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad this debate is taking place. A few people have contacted me to say there should have been a debate on the issue earlier because the national drugs strategy has been in place for over a year, so I am pleased it is taking place. I am pleased - I know the task force is also happy - to see the progress of the working group on alternative approaches to the possession of drugs for personal use and the high level of response to the public consultation process. Over 14,000 submissions - over 16,000 now according to the Minister of State's report - have been made to date. I know from my contact with Addiction Response Crumlin, my role on the Canal Communities Local Drugs Task Force and contact with other community network groups that they look forward to the report of the working group being completed by October, as indicated by the Minister of State, and its recommendations being considered promptly by the Government in order that issues of addiction and drug use are no longer treated as criminal issues but health issues, in line with the commitments in the national drugs strategy.

The community drug projects continue to develop and deliver a wide range of services across treatment and harm reduction; rehabilitation and recovery; young people and children's services; family support services; and awareness and support programmes in schools, clubs and communities as they respond to every kind of drug use that people present with, including heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, hash, weed, benzos and tablets, new psychoactive substances, NPS, steroids, amphetamines and alcohol.

I attended the Canal Communities Local Drugs Task Force's monthly meeting on Monday. A crucial part of the two-hour meeting involved breaking into groups, dividing the national drugs strategy into five areas or groups. Each group had to devise strategies on how to implement the national drugs strategy into the projects and the task force. It was a really good exercise except for the fact that we were advised there would be no definitive figures on extra gardaí - community gardaí, drugs gardaí - coming into the jurisdiction in the coming period. This is a key area that is not just for the Department of Justice and Equality but for Deputy Byrne, as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, in ensuring that the community gardaí and the drugs gardaí get the resources they need to assist the communities and work with them, not above them.

The projects have struggled through the devastation of seven years of funding cuts, with an overall cut of 37% to the drugs initiative budget between 2008 and 2014, and have seen no increases to their budgets from 2014 to 2017 or to their wages, which has been mentioned already. The workers in the task forces come under section 39 of the Health Act 2004 and are not getting the increases that other public services are receiving, yet their funding was cut as promptly and as quickly as that of those workers back in 2011-12. This is despite a significant additional allocation of €4 million to €5 million to the drugs initiative budget for 2018. However, none of this additional funding is currently set to be allocated to the community drugs projects that are on the front line of delivering services to our communities. This is completely unjustifiable and needs to be remedied immediately. I see from the Minister of State's report that she has now sourced other moneys for the fourth quarter of 2018, €10,000 each for the local drugs and alcohol task forces and €15,000 for each regional drugs and alcohol task force. Is this on top of the announcement she has already made about the €10,000 going to the task forces?

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