Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. I welcome this opportunity to confirm for the House the continued participation of the community and voluntary sector in the national oversight committee for the national drugs strategy.

I convened a meeting of the national oversight committee on Friday. My door is always open to meeting various groups. I have met CityWide on many occasions. It has been part of various deputations I have met previously. The meeting was attended by three representatives from the community and voluntary sector, representing CityWide, the National Voluntary Drug and Alcohol Sector and Uisce, the service user organisation. A fourth position remains vacant and will be filled in due course. At the meeting, I provided reassurance that there is no proposal to remove community and voluntary groups from the national oversight committee. This appears to have arisen from a misunderstanding by CityWide of the Department's proposals to establish a civil society on drugs. I also dispute the accuracy of the claim that community groups are being written out of the national drugs strategy. To be clear: Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, a health-led response to drugs and alcohol use, remains in place as the national drug strategy until 2025.

As the strategy is a dynamic process, there is flexibility to introduce new actions to address emerging issues in the period from 2021 to 2025. To this end, I recently published the mid-term review of the actions in the strategy. Based on the learning from the mid-term review, six strategic priorities for 2021 to 2025 were identified. These priorities strengthen the health-led approach, reflect commitments in the programme for Government and align with the EU drugs strategy and action plan for 2021 to 2025. I assure Deputies that the priorities complement and build on the five goals in the national drugs strategy. The interagency approach involving a partnership between statutory, community and voluntary bodies remains central to the strategy, as does strengthening the resilience of communities to respond to the drug problem.

One of the strategic priorities is to address the social determinants and consequences for drug use in disadvantaged communities. This priority recognises the additional challenges arising from drug use in disadvantaged communities, including the Traveller community. It will address the underlying social and economic determinants that increase the prevalence of problematic drug and alcohol use in certain communities. It will also tackle the criminality and antisocial behaviour associated with the drug trade that impose a heavy burden on communities. These issues require action across the Government to promote community development and community safety. The drug and alcohol task forces and community drug projects also have important roles.

There are a number of horizontal themes to support the strategic priorities. The first is the involvement of service users in the design and delivery of services based on a human rights perspective and the promotion of health literacy. The second is active and meaningful participation of civil society in the development, implementation and evaluation of policies and services. The third is good governance, accountability and mutual respect by all partners. The fourth is cross-sectoral funding and the targeting of additional resources. I believe that the oversight structures to drive the implementation of the strategic priorities for the period from 2021 to 2025 will strengthen the partnership approach and give a stronger voice to civil society organisations in developing national policy, including the lived experience of those affected by drug and alcohol addiction.

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