Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad in my capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. I wish to provide the House with an update on the progress made to date in implementing the strategy and, in particular, the results from the latest bulletin in the drug prevalence survey, which was launched last week. To put this bulletin in context, it contained the second set of results to be released from the first ever all-Ireland drug prevalence survey. It was commissioned by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, which comes under the aegis of my Department, and the drug and alcohol information and research unit in Northern Ireland. Field work for the survey was carried out between October 2002 and April 2003 by MORI/MRC and the final sample was 8,442, of which 4,925 were in the Republic of Ireland and 3,517 in Northern Ireland.

The survey was carried out according to guidelines set out by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction. It is the first survey in Ireland on this topic and of this magnitude to have been carried out in this fashion. Although the results give us excellent baseline figures, given that it is the first survey of its kind there are no previous surveys with which it can be compared.

The main focus of the survey was to obtain prevalence rates for key illegal drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, by three measures: lifetime prevalence — the basic question being whether respondents had ever used a drug; recent use — have respondents used a drug in the year prior to the survey; and current use — have respondents used a drug in the month prior to the survey. Similar prevalence questions were also asked about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The first bulletin from the survey was released last October and it presented key findings from the survey on overall drug misuse. A number of key findings were published in that bulletin. One in five people, 19% of those surveyed, reported ever using an illegal drug. One in 18, or 5.6%, reported use in the last year and one in 33,or 3%, reported use in the last month. Cannabis was the most widely reported illegal drug being used, with 18% of those surveyed having used it in their lifetime, 5% in the last year and 2.6% in the last month.

The prevalence of other illegal drugs is lower and largely confined to younger age groups. For example, those aged 15-24 had the highest prevalence rates for most illegal drugs in the last 12 months, while those aged 35 and over reported minimal rates of use.

More men than women use illegal drugs. The difference varies with different drugs, but women and older people report higher rates of sedative, tranquilliser and anti-depressant use, which are legally prescribed.

The figures in bulletin No. 2, which was launched last week, give a regional breakdown of drug prevalence based on health board areas. These figures give us significantly more detail and add to our knowledge and understanding of drug use across the country. The bulletin included a number of key findings. Lifetime illegal drug prevalence varied between 11% and 29% across health board areas. The lowest rate of recent illegal drug use, at 3%, was recorded in the North Western Health Board area, while the highest rate recorded, at 8%, was in the Northern Area Health Board area, including the north side of Dublin. Those figures are for recent use, which is within the last year. Prevalence rates of current drug use varied from 0.5% in the North Western Health Board area, to 5% in the Northern Area Health Board region. The figure of 0.5% is only one in 200, while 5% represents one in 20.

Prevalence rates — lifetime, recent and current — tended to be higher in the eastern part of the country. Cannabis was the main illegal drug used on a lifetime, recent or current basis in all health board areas. Prevalence rates for cannabis were at least twice as high as those for other illegal drugs. In almost all health board areas the level of recent and current cannabis use was higher among young adults aged 15-34, than among older adults aged 35-64.

Prevalence rates for other illegal drugs were considerably lower than for cannabis across all areas and periods, including lifetime, recent and current. For example, the highest prevalence rate for recent use of ecstasy was 3% and cocaine in powdered format 2%, compared to 8% for cannabis.

The profile of illegal drug users showed a great deal of consistency across health boards. In almost all areas, prevalence rates were higher among men than women, and they were higher among young people than older people.

According to the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction's model questionnaire, questions on alcohol and tobacco use were also asked. In addition, prevalence rates for these substances are also provided in the bulletin. Inter-relationships between substance use, as part of poly-drug use, will be further explored in a future bulletin.

The information in this survey is an essential tool for Government in responding to the drug problem. It provides excellent baseline information which is very useful in the context of the ongoing implementation of the strategy. It shows us that the vast majority of the general population has never used any illegal drugs and that a small percentage is currently using illegal drugs. The results from the recent bulletin highlight the fact that drug misuse is not confined to our major cities. It is an issue for communities, both urban and rural, throughout the country. The Government is determined to tackle it at every level through the implementation of the national drugs strategy which covers the 2001-08 period.

Senators will be aware that the national drugs strategy brings into a single framework all those involved in drug misuse policy. It arose from an extensive consultation process involving almost 190 submissions, eight regional seminars and meetings with 34 separate groups. In recognition of the complexity of the issue, the strategy contains over 100 separate actions to becarried out by a range of Departments and agencies. Those actions fall under what we call the four pillars, namely, supply reduction, whichgenerally involves the Garda and customs, prevention, which covers education and awareness campaigns, treatment, which involves rehabilitation, and research, which involves the National Advisory Committee on Drugs.

Since my appointment as Minister of State I have been very interested in meeting with and hearing the experiences of recovering drug misusers and those who are working in local communities to address this problem. In this regard I have visited a number of projects in local drugs task force areas and the message I have got continually is that there has been much progress in recent years but that there still is much work to be done. I assure the House that the Government is aware of this and that we will continue to prioritise this issue.

Clearly, with a strategy as broad as this, it is very important to have structures and processes in place to ensure the effective implementation of the strategy. The interdepartmental group on drugs, which I chair, meets regularly to discuss the progress being made by Departments and agencies in implementing the actions which have been set out for them in the strategy. The IDG contains representatives from a range of Departments and State agencies and its role is to bring to the attention of the Cabinet Sub-committee on Social Inclusion any identified issues which may impede the progress of the strategy.

In addition, my Department, in close consultation with those involved in the delivery of the actions in the strategy, prepares six-monthly progress reports which I present to the Cabinet sub-committee. Also, a report covering the first three years of the strategy is planned for publication in June and a mid-term review of the strategy will also be completed by the end of the year. This will allow for a refocusing of the strategy if necessary.

My Department also recently published a critical implementation path for the strategy. The purpose of the CIP is to map out how the actions in the strategy are being delivered and to set timeframes for their delivery. The CIP also shows the obstacles which Departments and agencies have identified as they move forward. In this way it is possible to identify potential problems in advance and thus endeavour to resolve them.

I will outline the main areas in which progress has been made since the inception of the strategy. As I said previously, the strategy has a long timeframe, but despite this I am happy to say that there is much progress to report.

Progress has been made on a range of actions under the prevention pillar of the strategy. These are the responsibility of the Department of Education and Science and the health promotion unit of the Department of Health and Children. In particular, guidelines to assist schools in the development of a drugs policy were issued in May 2002. The Department of Education and Science implemented substance misuse prevention programmes in all schools in the LDTF areas during the academic year, 2001-02. The social personal and health programme, or SPHE, has been on the curricula of all primary and secondary schools since September 2003. This work is being supported by the SPHE support service, which has recruited additional trainers and support officers.

However, school is only one place where young people can and do learn about drugs and it is imperative that there is proper information available to all our young people. The Department of Health and Children launched the first phase of a national awareness campaign on 15 May 2003. The campaign features television and radio advertising supported by an information brochure and website, all designed to promote greater awareness and communication about the drugs issue in Ireland. This first phase targeted the general population, while the second phase, launched in October, is aimed at parents. Another phase of TV advertisements was also recently aired.

The consultation process which helped us to arrive at the national drugs strategy identified a clear need to progress towards a more fully integrated treatment and rehabilitation service. A wide range of actions is currently being taken by the health boards and others to address this need. The treatment of addicted young people is an important issue and the treatment of those under 18 is particularly sensitive. In this regard, the Department of Health and Children chairs a group whose task is to develop a protocol for the treatment of under 18s and much progress has been made in this legally complex area. A report on the work of this group is nearing completion.

In addition, that Department is currently overseeing the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the working group set up to examine the use of the group of drugs known as benzodiazepines, which include valium. This group reported in December 2002.

The national drugs strategy also set an end-2002 target to increase the number of methadone treatment places to 6,500. I am pleased that there has been significant progress in this area and currently there are approximately 6,900 places. This is a substantial increase on the December 2000 figure of 5,032. In addition, the numbers on waiting lists awaiting treatment have decreased significantly. There are also approximately 1,100 people on the special FÁS community employment scheme for recovering drug misusers.

On the supply reduction side, Garda operations continue to result in significant drug seizures with an estimated street value of approximately €49 million seized in 2002 and provisional indications for 2003 well exceed this figure. Both the gardaí and the customs authorities remain on track to achieve their drug seizure targets as set out in the national drugs strategy. Street level dealing is being tackled by specific Garda operations such as Clean Street and Nightcap. Customs and Excise has launched a coastal watch programme and has implemented a number of measures to enhance drugs detection capability at points of entry.

I am also aware of the evidence of an increase in the prevalence of cocaine use, particularly through local drugs task forces and the work of the NACD. Figures from the drugs prevalence survey show that 3.1% of the population has never used cocaine, 1.1% used it in the past 12 months and 0.3% used it in the past month, although there are significant regional variations. Compared to similar surveys undertaken in other European countries, these figures suggest that Ireland is roughly average in terms of use. In addition, the latest numbers presenting for treatment are still very low and, in total, make up approximately 1% of those in treatment. Similarly, the number of cocaine-related offences remains relatively small compared to other drugs and, according to the 2002 Garda annual report, account for approximately 5.5% of all such offences. It is significant that in the survey we launched last week based on health board areas, the Northern Area Health Board was the area with the greatest misuse of illegal drugs generally, but the leading area for the misuse of cocaine, across all three categories, was the east coast region. That is interesting.

The increase in Ireland appears to coincide with an increase in the availability and use of cocaine in Europe generally as a result of increased production, particularly in Colombia, and a consequential drop in the street price. However, I assure the House that I am keeping the matter of cocaine use under examination and in particular it can be examined in the mid-term review of the strategy.

It is vital that high quality information relating to the complex problem of drugs misuse is available. For this reason, the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, the NACD, was set up in 2000 to advise the Government in relation to the prevalence, treatment and consequences of problem drug misuse in Ireland. The committee, whose membership comprises a range of academic, community, statutory and voluntary interests, is currently overseeing an agreed programme of research.

The committee has published an overview of the current research into drug prevention as well as completing a review of prevalence information in Ireland and has also published a report on the effectiveness of bruprenorphine in the treatment of opiate dependence in December 2002. It also commissioned a longitudinal study on treatment outcomes in November 2002. Two bulletins from the population survey have been published and a third is planned later this year, while the 3-Source Capture Recapture report, the compilation of an estimate of the number of opiate users, was published in May last year. This estimated that there are approximately 12,500 opiate users in Dublin and approximately 2,000 in the rest of Ireland. The report, An Overview of Cocaine use in Ireland, was published in December last year and a review of the harm reduction mechanisms for injecting drug misusers in an Irish context is also under way.

In September 2002, as part of the implementation of its work programme, the NACD launched a community and voluntary research grant scheme to generate innovative community based drugs research. Five community groups are currently working on research projects.

In addition to specific actions under the strategy, my Department has responsibility for the work of the local drugs task forces. The task forces were first set up in 1997 in the areas experiencing the worst levels of drugs misuse. These task forces operate in 14 areas at present, 12 in Dublin, one in Cork, and one in Bray, which was designated a task force area in 2000.

All of these local drugs task forces are currently implementing their second round of action plans. In total, the Government has allocated approximately €65 million to implement the projects contained in the plans of the task forces since 1997. Under these plans, the task forces provide a range of drug programmes and services in the area of supply reduction, treatment, rehabilitation, awareness, prevention and education.

In addition to the funding which has been made available under the task force plans, more than €11.5 million was provided under the premises initiative. This is designed to address the accommodation needs of community based drugs projects, the majority of which are based in the local drugs task force areas.

The young people's facilities and services fund is another very important initiative for which I have responsibility. It operates in the 14 local drugs task force areas and in the urban centres of Limerick, Galway, Carlow and Waterford. The main aim of the fund is to attract "at risk" young people into sports and recreational facilities and activities and divert them away from the dangers of substance misuse. To date, approximately €72 million had been allocated for this purpose. In this context, I recently announced grants of approximately €13 million under the second round of allocations under the fund, over half of which are in respect of capital developments.

In broad terms, approximately 450 facility and services projects are being supported under the fund. These initiatives fall under seven broad headings, namely, the building, renovating or fitting out of community centres, youth facilities and sports clubs; a number of purpose-built youth centres; the appointment of more than 85 youth and outreach workers; the employment of ten sports workers; support for a wide variety of community-based prevention education programmes; a number of targeted interventions for particular groups such as youth work projects for young Travellers have been put in place; and a number of national drugs education and training officers for youth organisations have been employed.

Diversionary activities have an important role to play in the development of young people who are at risk of becoming involved in substance misuse. The young people's facilities and services fund aims to provide such activities in those areas that need them most.

The positive and active involvement of local communities has played a significant part in the success of the local drugs task forces. The consultation process involved in drawing up local task force plans in each community has been an important factor. The underlying principle of the strategy is the development of an integrated response. This needs to be informed by the active participation of all the stakeholders.

Partnership and consultation are the best way forward in dealing not alone with this issue, but with the wider problem of social inclusion. It is of vital importance that the communities most affected by the drug problem have been provided with the opportunity to have their voices heard in the development of drugs policies.

Given that the task forces operate in selected urban areas of high drug misuse, the national drugs strategy recommended the setting up of regional drugs task forces in order to address the issue of drug misuse outside these areas. The recent bulletin highlights the fact that drug use is not confined to our major cities but is present in all regions. These task forces operate in each of the regional health board areas throughout the country, including each of the three that comprise the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The regional task forces are designed to ensure an integrated and co-ordinated response to the problem of drug misuse in the regions. They will represent a team-based response to illicit drug use.

Each task force is chaired by an independent chairperson and will be made up of nominees from State agencies working in the region, the community and voluntary sectors and elected public representatives. It is my intention that all of the regional task force members will work in partnership in a manner similar to the local drugs task forces.

The national drugs strategy team has prepared guidelines on its operation in consultation with the relevant sectors and agencies. All of the regional drugs task forces have had their initial meetings and continue to meet regularly. It is hoped that as well as examining the availability of drug services and related resources, the regional drugs task forces will also provide up-to-date information on the nature and extent of drug use in their regions. They are currently working on mapping out the patterns of drug misuse in the area, as well as the services already available in the area, with a view to co-ordinating these existing services and addressing gaps in service provision. The figures in the bulletin released last week will assist them in assessing the prevalence of drug use in each regional drugs task force area. The idea is that each regional drugs task force will bring forward plans which match the particular problem in their area. As we have seen from last week's figures, these vary from health board area to health board area.

These are some of the main areas where progress has been achieved since the launch of the national drugs strategy. The problem of the misuse of drugs is a hugely complex one. As Members are aware, there is not just one drug problem, rather many different drugs are used by different people in different circumstances. Addressing this issue requires responses from a range of agencies and service providers. As the publication by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs shows, drug use is in all regions of the country although the scale of the problem varies significantly from the east coast to the west.

We all have a responsibility in this area especially as politicians and legislators. We need to do our utmost to ensure we make a difference to those communities hardest hit by the problems of drug misuse.

The national drugs strategy covers the period up to 2008 and the mid-term evaluation of the strategy which we are carrying out this year will hopefully inform us on how to build further on the firm foundations which have been laid. Much progress has been made already, but we need to continue to put our efforts into driving the strategy forward. I look forward to hearing Members' contributions.