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

I thank all my colleagues and the Members of the House who contributed to this debate, and the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, for their attendance. The Minister of State will have to recognise the fact that so many Members wanted to contribute to the debate. There is a real issue there. I set out at the beginning the growth of this problem, and the evidence behind it, both in terms of illicit drugs and those trying to access services. One can see it quite clearly.

There are a number of issues I want to refer to quickly. The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, stated that next year, the Department of Health would provide additional funding of €100,000 to develop a national harm reduction campaign. It is not large enough. We need to think much, much larger.

Deputy Barry from Cork indicated correctly, in terms of the drugs-related death index, that 736 people died in 2016, four times as many people as in road fatalities. That is monumental the damage drugs are doing to our communities and our public education and information and awareness campaigns need to be of that scale.

The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, mentioned that previous speakers spoke about children being used and said he was open to legislation in that regard. I would encourage him to move on that. It is a new feature that we have seen in recent years, that young children are being used to either sell or distribute drugs. I would encourage the Minister to move in terms of a legislative solution or we, on this side of the House, will do so and, hopefully, the Minister would support us. This has happened and we need to deal with it.

The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, concluded by stating that working collaboratively, we can deliver on the ambitious goals of the strategy. That is exactly what the community sector wants. It wants partnership and a collaborative approach. I have asked parliamentary questions and received the replies so I am aware that frequently the statutory agencies are not attending in a meaningful way the meetings. I have asked the question, Department by Department. It is not happening.

It is not correct to say that there is additional funding. In 2019, each task force got an additional €20,000 after years and years of the figure remaining the same.

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Next year, they will get only €10,000 of that. It is insufficient. The Minister of State heard the two Deputies from Cavan-Monaghan, Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth, plead with her to ensure additional funding was made available to keep projects alive. Every Deputy who spoke meets regularly in his or her community to discuss projects and programmes that are just about surviving. At the same time, the Minister is saying we have to have governance and oversight. I agree with that but she is measuring organisations having starved them of funding. They are on their knees. They need realistic support in terms of financial support.

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