Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a real opportunity at European Council meetings to learn from Europe and to use these learnings to assist us in resolving issues at home. One such issue is the funding to drug and alcohol task forces. The Minister of State may be aware that task forces were in the Dáil last week, including our own task force in Cork. They are operating at a €3 million deficit when compared with 2010. This is a barrier to them taking proactive, localised community responses to addiction. All across Europe, the importance of community addiction approaches are recognised. If the Minister of State was to speak to our European counterparts, they would be shocked to hear how the Government is treating this sector. They would also be shocked to hear that in budget 2023, the Government only allocated one tenth of the funding that Sinn Féin proposed should be allocated to support addiction services. Ireland has one of the highest rates of death by drug overdose in Europe. That is a scandal and a shame on the Government in the context of its policies. I call on the Minister of State and on the Government to step in and support task forces and to look at what is happening right across Europe. If we are going to be serious about tackling drugs, we need to be on the ground and working with task forces and with people who are at the coalface. I ask the Minister of State to look at that and to finally give these task forces the support they so desperately need.

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