Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish everyone in the Seanad a good Christmas and a peaceful and successful new year. I see we have cross-party Members here today. I wish them all well. I thank Senator McCarthy for raising this issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State with responsibility for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy, Deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor. I welcome the opportunity to update the House on funding for the DRIVE project and the support provided by the Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy and the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.

Drug-related intimidation and violence arises where individuals or family members are threatened by criminal drug gangs, usually because of an outstanding debt arising from the supply of illicit drugs. Drug-related intimidation is a serious and insidious issue impacting individuals, families and communities nationwide. It is a complex problem that leaves victims fearful and powerless. Senator McCarthy has alluded to all this. Intimidation can involve demands for repayment of perceived drug debts or opportunistic extortion, and its relentless nature poses significant risks to health and well-being. It can also be a means of recruiting people into supporting the criminal activities of drug gangs. The DRIVE project is an interagency response to drug-related intimidation and violence affecting an individual, a family or a community. It is supported by the Department of Health, the Department of justice, An Garda Síochána, the HSE drug task forces and other stakeholders. It aims to build community capacity to support victims and tackle the root causes of intimidation and violence.

The Department of Health has been the principal funder of DRIVE from 2020, when the drug task forces first submitted a proposal to establish DRIVE. The Department currently provides over €250,000 per annum to meet the operational costs of DRIVE, amounting to €1,260,000 in total to date. In May this year, the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O’Connor, and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, jointly launched a nationwide awareness campaign on drug-related intimidation and the supports available through DRIVE. A specific aim of the campaign was to reduce the stigma associated with drug-related intimidation. The Department of Health provided additional funding to support the national awareness campaign. The campaign has been successful in increasing awareness of supports available to 29% of the population, which represents a 10% increase overall.

A key objective of DRIVE is to build community capacity to support victims of drug-related intimidation and violence. It provides specific training and capacity-building, which is being rolled out on a national basis. The DRIVE project is developing resources and signposting affected individuals to specialist support services in their local areas, including An Garda Síochána’s drug-related intimidation reporting programme. The programme responds to the needs of drug users, family members and individuals who are experiencing drug-related intimidation. It is led by specially trained Garda inspectors who have expertise in understanding and supporting people who experience drug-related intimidation.

The DRIVE oversight committee is responsible for leading and co-ordinating the implementation of the DRIVE framework in partnership with key stakeholders. It is supported by a DRIVE project staff team which includes a national DRIVE co-ordinator, a DRIVE project officer and a DRIVE data research and evaluation co-ordinator. The Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy has also assisted the DRIVE project to develop a national reporting system on incidences of drug-related intimidation, using the national drug treatment reporting system, which is maintained by the Health Research Board. This national surveillance system will record incidents of drug-related intimidation and provide national data on the nature and extent of this criminal behaviour. In turn, this will allow us to quantify the demand for support and to allocate additional resources where these are required. I would encourage people experiencing drug-related intimidation to contact their local drug task force or community-based service provider to get confidential support.

Senator McCarthy specifically referred to the community safety partnerships. He will appreciate that they are under the Department of justice but it is something I have no doubt will be noted by both the Department of Health and the Department of justice. I suggest that the Senator take this matter up directly with the Department of justice too. I will await his further comments.