Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his long-standing interest in this issue and for raising it. Tackling the scourge of drug dealing and targeting the work of organised crime groups, which inflict intimidation, violence and misery on families and communities in rural Ireland, is a top priority for the Government and our Department. As part of budget 2025, €36 million has been allocated to youth justice services. This investment will facilitate an increase in the capacity of youth diversion projects for the young people who need them the most, as well as increased supports for families and early interventions for children who may be at increased risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity. This approach is strongly supported by evidence from the University of Limerick. The projects are community-based, multiagency youth crime prevention initiatives that primarily seek to divert young people at risk of involvement in antisocial or criminal behaviour, or both. I was very pleased to announce two new projects last month, which will achieve the target set out in the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 of full national coverage.

The Government is also fully committed to providing An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to fight crime. This is reflected in the unprecedented allocation of €2.48 billion in budget 2025. That was a 27% increase in budget since 2020. We were delighted to witness 149 new gardaí passing out of Templemore two weeks ago and to see more than 200 trainees, the largest intake since 2019, enter the Garda College recently. This increase in Garda numbers is allowing for sustained investment in front-line policing and in specialist units such as the very successful drugs and organised crime bureau. An Garda Síochána continues to implement the enhanced national anti-drugs strategy in Operation Tara, the focus of which is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks at all levels, namely, international, national and local, that are involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.

The Department of Health leads on Government policy in the area of drugs, and this policy is guided by the whole-of-government national drugs and alcohol strategy, which sets out a health-led response to drug and alcohol use.

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