Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let me be clear. The Family Addiction Support Network has had a huge amount of engagement with the drugs and alcohol task force. In fairness, the latter has put in business plans and requests for funding that have not necessarily been met at this point. However, the requests that have been put in probably would not cut the mustard in regard to the particular issue we are dealing with, namely, the drug addiction crisis and the pressures families are under as a result. As I outlined, State agencies use this organisation. It is not some organisation that exists in a silo and only imagines it is doing really good work. Christy Mangan, the former Garda chief superintendent for Louth, is still personally involved with it on the basis of the work it has done in the past. As I said, the Garda is involved in fundraising every year to keep the organisation afloat. We really need to look at how we deal with organisations like this one. When I speak to people in Turas Counselling, the Red Door Project and the Dundalk Counselling Centre, they all talk about the issue of corporatism and the difficulties of dealing with State agencies in regard to funding.

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