Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government pledges to support local drug and alcohol task forces to help them identify needs in the community. I was a member of a drugs task force in the very early days and for several periods since then, until quite recently. I remember the exciting days when the community felt its voice was being heard. That has sadly been lost in the past ten years. Can the Tánaiste commit to supporting strong community representation on drug and alcohol task forces and to making statutory engagements obligatory for Departments and agencies? More importantly, can he commit to immediately investing in a new community development initiative to support community participation? The core issue is that we need community representatives who are supported on drug and alcohol task forces in order they can make a real commitment and bring real energy back to the task forces.

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