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

A great deal of good and necessary work is being done and I thank all of the stakeholders - the drug and alcohol task forces and everyone providing a service - in this difficult situation. We secured €7 million for new developments. Some €1 million of that will go towards strengthening the monitoring of emerging drug trends and expanding community-based services as part of the community services enhancement fund.

Recently, I announced an allocation of €1.5 million for a three-year drug prevention and education programme. This is the first time that national funding has been made available for drug prevention. This programme is a key deliverable under the national drugs strategy to strengthen the prevention of drug and alcohol use and related harm among children and young people. A great deal of good work is being doing with schools, families and the general community. I thank all of the stakeholders for the great work that they are doing to prevent drug use as much as possible.

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