Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

(a) To insert the following after “drug-related harm consistently clusters in communities marked by poverty and social inequality”: “ , however, such harm is not exclusive to disadvantaged communities and is a problem that is evident across society;” (b) To insert the following after “calls for:”: “— the restoration of local Garda Drugs Units;

— an increase in the number of adult and adolescent residential and medical detoxification beds;” and (c) To insert the following after “a major education and information campaign to be undertaken on casual drug use”: “ , with a special focus on the establishment of early intervention programmes to be made available in all schools and third level institutions beginning at primary level."

I dtús báire ba mhaith liom tacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo ó Fhianna Fáil agus ón Teachta Curran. I also seek support for Sinn Féin's amendments which enhance this motion. It is important that as public representatives, we discuss such an important issue, particularly in the context of the statement issued last week and signed by several former Ministers of State with responsibility for drugs expressing their concern that the national drugs strategy is failing. While shocking to hear, this is not news to most of us who have spent years working with local and regional drugs task forces. I, along with my colleagues in Sinn Féin, have highlighted this fact on several occasions in the Dáil and we said as much in a similar Private Member's motion last March.

There has not been a noticeable or substantial change in the drugs crisis for many local communities. The recent budget was an opportunity to turn this deepening crisis around. However, the Government's priorities lay elsewhere and not with those areas most affected by the drugs crisis. It was also an opportunity for Fianna Fáil to press for additional funding for the task forces, which it failed to do.

While the drugs crisis affects every demographic across communities, it is felt most severely in disadvantaged areas and by vulnerable communities that have had many services and supports cut by this and previous Governments. The local drugs task forces established in the mid-1990s were a response to pressure from communities devastated by drugs and addiction. Drugs task forces became central to combatting the drugs crisis in our communities. They liaise with statutory agencies and local public representatives and help oversee strategies that help to develop responses to the various aspects of local drugs problems. They are responsible for many local initiatives to help people affected by drugs problems.

Task forces have developed many projects to address areas such as prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation and so on. More recently, tackling the alcohol crisis has been added to their remit without corresponding funding or any additional resources. Drugs task forces have had their funding cut every year between 2008 and 2014, while funding has been frozen since 2014 without consideration of inflation. We are losing experienced and talented people from the task forces and from the various projects they run. It is detrimental to the fight against drugs.

Many local and regional task forces provide a focal point for the community and community representatives, thereby allowing discussion to take place on drugs issues. They provide a crucial link to tenants' organisations, youth workers, An Garda Síochána, statutory agencies, community projects, public representatives and many more. Such interactions help task forces set and identify priorities and help to co-ordinate the implementation of plans and agreed actions Task forces are important in identifying and responding to the needs of those affected by the drugs problem.

In the past, I asked that funding be reinstated to 2008 levels with a comparative increase in funding to reflect the additional remit of alcohol. I ask again that this funding be reinstated. We need to keep the knowledge and experience the staff in task forces and community-based drug and alcohol projects have acquired over decades. To do this it is only reasonable to ask that those who work in these projects should have their pay restored and those who are entitled to increments should also have them restored.

Communities devastated by drugs problems are also being terrorised and intimidated by those involved in the drug trade. Families are also concerned about the increasing use of children, some as young as eight years, who are being groomed to be used as drug couriers.

Task forces need to be able to operate and function independently of the HSE. They should continue to draft and implement local strategies in consultation with the community. Other measures can be taken in conjunction with increasing the funding for the task forces. We need to re-establish the emergency needs fund and the young persons facilities and services fund. We need an inter-agency approach to tackle the drugs problems and such task forces must be supported by State and Government agencies, including the HSE, the Garda and local authorities. The national drugs strategy has created a disconnect with the communities most affected by the drugs crisis. Isolating or marginalising groups such as the drugs task forces will only exacerbate the drug problems, not help solve it.

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