Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to be here. As the Leas-Chathaoirleach stated, this is my first appearance in the Seanad. I congratulate everyone who was returned to this august assembly. I look forward to working with Senators for however long we remain Members of these Houses.

I welcome the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the achievements of the Government to date, our current initiatives and actions and our plans to minimise problem drug use in Ireland and alleviate the problems it causes. While Members all agree that problem drug use affects many aspects of Irish life, I am sure they also agree that there are no quick and easy solutions to it. Illegal drug use is a global issue and no country has succeeded in coming to terms with all dimensions of the problem. Our efforts to tackle it must, therefore, be seen in that context.

The Government's response, through its commitment to maximising the successful outcomes of the national drugs strategy, represents the best approach. By taking a proactive, decisive and co-ordinated approach, much has been achieved through focusing on the original four pillars of the strategy, namely, supply reduction, prevention, treatment and research. More recently, the response has been augmented by the development of the rehabilitation pillar, the implementation of which will form a key part of the response to the drugs problem under the programme for Government. The implementation of actions under all five pillars will in time provide a vital, lifelong continuum of care necessary to assist those affected by drug misuse.

In the context of funding, the allocation this year of €50 million in my Department's Vote clearly illustrates the Government's continued commitment to tackling the problem of drug misuse in Ireland. This amount represents an increase of 16% on the 2006 figure and is 87% up on the corresponding figure for 2004. In all, more than €200 million was spent on various drug programmes across Departments and agencies last year. This figure is exclusive of the many mainstream services that are availed of in the normal way by those affected by problem drug use. I am confident that resources will continue to be made available on a scale appropriate to the needs arising.

As the national drugs strategy 2001-2008 nears its conclusion and with a new programme for Government bringing us through to 2012, this is an appropriate time to reflect on and note what has been achieved under the strategy in recent years. In addition, it is necessary to evaluate our experiences during the past six years with a view to utilising the knowledge gained from the outcomes achieved when developing a new national drugs strategy for the period 2009 to 2016. My Department will shortly take the initial steps in the process that will lead to the drafting of a new national drugs strategy.

The national drugs strategy 2001-2008 has achieved considerable success across a range of areas in reducing the hardship caused to individuals and the wider community by problem drug use. One of the main achievements to date is the fact that the level of drugs seizures by the Garda Síochána and the Customs Service has been well in excess of the targets set out in the strategy and includes a number of significant operations. In addition, under the prevention pillar, the SPHE and Walk Tall programmes have been rolled out to all schools; awareness campaigns have been organised and tremendous achievements have been made under the young people facilities and services fund; treatment facilities have increased significantly, with approximately 8,500 clients now in receipt of methadone; a range of services is being provided across the statutory, voluntary and community sectors for various types of problem drug use; and research in areas such as drugs prevalence, the outcome of heroin treatment, families and drugs, the effect of drugs on communities and cocaine issues have all helped to inform our progress.

With regard to the methadone programme, I have already expressed my disappointment and concern regarding the decision of individual pharmacists to withdraw from the methadone protocol this week. The putting at risk of an extremely vulnerable group such as methadone patients who are receiving treatment in a community setting cannot be justified given the destabilisation dangers associated with the interruption of their supply of methadone. I have also urged the HSE to ensure that sufficient resources are put in place to ensure continuity of supply to the individuals involved while minimising the disruption they experience.

The specific achievements of my Department under the strategy include the programmes developed by local and regional drugs task forces, capital projects developed under the premises initiative fund and preventative actions undertaken through the young people facilities and services fund. I pay tribute to Members of this House and other public representatives for the role they have played in rolling out those initiatives.

The 14 local drugs task forces have been in operation for nearly ten years and support more than 440 community-based projects, employing more than 300 people. These projects deliver a wide range of services and supports for problem drug users, their families and their broader communities. Furthermore, through the emerging needs fund, approximately €4 million was allocated to 67 projects to ensure the drugs problem continues to be combated on the ground in the most timely and flexible way. In my visits to local drugs task force areas since my appointment, I have seen many of their projects at first hand and have been greatly impressed by the quality and breadth of the work being done and by the commitment and dedication of those involved. Perhaps because of the scale of the work, much of this activity does not attract broader public recognition.

Ten regional drugs task forces were also established in 2003, thus ensuring that all parts of the country now benefit from the operation of a drugs task force. Following extensive consultation processes, each region prepared a strategic plan and these are now being rolled out. While it has, of necessity, taken time to get regional drugs task forces fully up and running, they are now pressing ahead towards full implementation of their plans in the next year or two at a full cost in excess of €14 million. As late as yesterday, I attended a meeting of the north Dublin regional drugs task force and visited the southern task force in the last week. I am impressed with the potential that exists for those regional forces to have an effect.

Meanwhile, capital funding under the premises initiative is now open to applications from all drug task forces to address the accommodation needs of community-based drugs projects. It is envisaged that regional drugs task forces will come forward with an increased range of proposals under this fund in the coming period.

The young peoples facilities and services fund was established to assist in the development of youth facilities, including sport and recreational facilities, and services in disadvantaged areas where a significant drug problem exists or has the potential to develop. The main aim of the fund is to attract into these facilities and activities "at risk" young people in disadvantaged areas and divert them away from the dangers of substance abuse. The target group of the programme is young people in the age range of ten to 21 years who are defined as "at risk" owing to factors such as family circumstances, educational disadvantage or involvement in crime or substance misuse.

Last month in Neilstown, I announced additional capital allocations of nearly €7 million to support 42 projects under the fund. To date, allocations of more than €125 million have been made to almost 500 facility and services projects in local drugs task force areas in Dublin, Bray and Cork, as well as in the cities of Galway, Limerick and Waterford and the town of Carlow. Under the programme for Government, it is envisaged that the young peoples facilities and services fund will be extended to further towns, mainly in Leinster, and I will consider such expansion in the short term.

Meanwhile, arising from the mid-term review of the national drugs strategy, rehabilitation became the fifth pillar of that strategy. Subsequently a working group, chaired by Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and involving representatives of Departments, agencies and the community and voluntary sectors, was established and its report was accepted by the interdepartmental group on drugs, as well as by the Cabinet committee on social inclusion, in March of this year. The report was published in May and the recommendations received a favourable reaction. However, it was published in the middle of the general election campaign and received little or no coverage and even less debate.

The key recommendations of the report focus on an effective inter-agency approach based on a continuum of care for the individual, involving protocols for inter-agency working, service level agreements, enhanced case management and quality standards; an expansion of the range of treatment options, including an increased number of residential detoxification beds; building on the rehabilitative impact of community employment schemes; and broader life issues, including medical support, access to employment and education, housing, particular issues relating to the rehabilitation of offenders, child care, the role of families in the rehabilitation process, and research.

I view the substantially increased focus on rehabilitation as being significant for the overall strategy. It is important that we go the extra mile to ensure people are facilitated in their efforts to regain their capacity for daily life from the impact of problem drug use. Implementation of the recommendations of the report, which is included in the programme for Government, will be led by the Health Service Executive and co-ordinated through a national drug rehabilitation implementation committee. In keeping with the national drugs strategy generally, the process will involve indepth cross-departmental or cross-agency co-operation in liaison with the community and voluntary sectors. The aim is to ensure such co-operation is achieved from the top policy level to the implementation of the care plans of individual recovering problem drug users. Meanwhile, the drugs situation in Ireland is constantly evolving and changing, and as such we must continue to be flexible in our attitudes and policies in order that we can adapt our approach to meet whatever challenges arise.

Cocaine is one problem that we are endeavouring to tackle in a proactive way. It is only when the second national drug prevalence survey is completed — the first reports from which are expected next month — that we will have an up-to-date picture of the prevalence of cocaine use in our society. However, the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, NACD, and the national drugs strategy team prepared a joint paper on cocaine use last year and this led to the NACD publication, entitled An Overview of Cocaine Use in Ireland, being published. This report, which was published in March, brings together all available data on cocaine in Ireland. It concludes that data sources indicate an upward trend in cocaine use, albeit from a low base.

The report highlighted the extremely high risks associated with cocaine use, risks that are often underestimated by users. The physical problems arising include heart conditions, strokes, nasal problems and respiratory ailments. Mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, agitation, compulsive behaviour and paranoia can occur. On top of these risks are the financial, social and dependency issues that arise and the increased threat of crime and violence.

Furthermore, cocaine is particularly dangerous when combined with alcohol and other substances and the messages on the real dangers associated with its use need to be brought home to users. In this regard, I stress again the dangers associated with so-called "recreational" or "weekend" cocaine use and the glamorising of cocaine in some quarters. Apart from damaging themselves in various ways, such users cause social and economic harm to their families and to the communities that bear the brunt of the behaviour and criminal activity associated with the supply and use of cocaine.

As pointed out by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin recently, it is the personal responsibility of individuals to consider the negative implications of their behaviour on other people when taking so-called "recreational" drugs. Their use of drugs such as cocaine impacts on others, including people in disadvantaged areas where we are witnessing the use of violence, including murder, to intimidate whole communities, notwithstanding the significant efforts being made by the Garda and other statutory, community and voluntary organisations.

The NACD report makes a number of recommendations, principally in regard to treatment but also covering supply, prevention and research. A key conclusion of the report is that treatment, primarily in the form of counselling, can and does work and that there is no need to be unduly concerned by the absence of a replacement drug, as in the case of heroin.

In regard to treatment, some stimulant specific treatment interventions are recommended though it is accepted that drug services generally should be capable of catering for the individual problem drug user, regardless of the drugs they use.

Recommendations in regard to the training of frontline personnel to deal with cocaine issues are being followed up both by the HSE and my Department. The latter has already funded training initiatives as well as four pilot cocaine treatment projects to examine different methods of treatment for cocaine use. Furthermore, under the emerging needs fund, six cocaine specific projects in local drugs task force areas have been funded and support for a further nine projects aimed at polydrug-cocaine use has been also provided under that fund. My Department also sponsored a highly successful conference organised by the SAOL project and the NDST at Croke Park last June on the response to cocaine through shared good practice. A useful resource pack for workers in the field was launched at that event.

Overall, it is a priority of mine to monitor closely the progression of the implementation of all the recommendations of this report through the health authorities, the Garda, the Irish Prison Service, drugs task forces and others. I am doing this through my chairmanship of the interdepartmental group on drugs, where reports on implementation are a standing agenda item. The challenges posed by cocaine use are significant, but I am confident we can meet these challenges through a co-ordinated approach utilising the structures of the national drugs strategy.

Looking forward, the programme for Government contains commitments in regard to the implementation of the recommendations of the working group on drugs rehabilitation, developing and strengthening the range of drugs task force projects, continuing and extending the young people's facilities and services fund and providing cocaine specific facilities. I am working to ensure these commitments are fulfilled.

As indicated, I will shortly initiate the process that will lead to the formulation of a new national drugs strategy for the period post 2008. In this context, I have long been of the opinion that the alcohol and illicit drugs problems are interlinked and I will be stressing the need for synergies in the approach to these issues. Again the formulation of the new drugs strategy will involve collaboration between Departments and agencies and the community and voluntary sectors. Many challenges will face us in the coming years but I am confident that, with a concerted effort by all involved, we can build on our experiences and achievements to date and successfully meet the problems presented over time by the evolving drugs situation.

I thank Members again for this opportunity to speak here today and I look forward to listening to their views on this important matter.