Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, for coming to the House. Councillor Paul McAuliffe has asked that the Taoiseach would come and see for himself the effects of crack cocaine use in Ballymun, which reached a crisis point this summer. He wants a cross-departmental task force to be organised to address the issue. Over the past year there has been an increase in crime, anti-social behaviour and aggressive begging and children have been used to transport drugs. While the Garda has put short-term measures in place to deal with the issue, it needs a cross-departmental and whole-of-Government response.

Local residents have been slow to highlight the issue because of the great work that has been done to ensure that Ballymun is a place that everyone is happy and proud to live in, and that has been the case, but the epidemic of crack cocaine use has blighted the community. The response has not been adequate and that must change. In recent months, Fianna Fáil's deputy leader, Deputy Calleary, our health spokesperson, Deputy Donnelly, and our spokesperson on children, Deputy Rabbitte, attended a meeting at the Setanta GAA club organised by Councillor McAuliffe to listen to the concerns and bring them to the attention of the Government so that it can address the issues. The agencies in attendance at the meeting included the Ballymun drugs task force and two youth services in the area, namely, the Ballymun job club and the Dublin North West Area Partnership. Many other groups have discussed the issue with Councillor McAuliffe. There is a solution but funding is required to implement it.

Press releases are not sufficient or even a visit by the Taoiseach, although he should visit Ballymun and see for himself what is going on. A cross-departmental task force, led by Dublin City Council, is required to ensure that this crisis does not continue and that a new generation is not affected by the scourge of drugs. The approach needs buy-in at all levels from Departments, led by Dublin City Council. It is essential that the Taoiseach would come to Ballymun to meet Councillor McAuliffe and other public representatives to ensure that he is aware of the problem and that a solution is put in place. That requires both co-ordination and funding and the approach taken could be applied to other communities in Dublin and elsewhere that are affected by the blight of an epidemic of crack cocaine use in society.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone. I thank the Senator. I will read the written response before responding to a few points. The Senator spoke about drugs and I will contribute on that issue.

As the Senator is aware, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established in 2011. This Department, along with all Departments, was required to deliver substantial savings on all funding programmes in line with the comprehensive review of expenditure 2012-14. The Department sought to ensure that front-line youth services, particularly those for the most vulnerable young people, were protected as far as possible from the impact of the reduction in funding.

Established in 1999, Ballymun Regional Youth Resource is a youth work organisation with special emphasis on young people at risk of drug misuse. The centre-based youth work has a strong focus on developmental group activities and the provision of youth work training and practical supports. Poppintree Youth Project supports the personal, interpersonal, social and analytical development of young people. The project develops programmes which include recreational activities, sports and adventure, creative arts and skills development.

In recent years, funding for the provision of youth services has been increased on an annual basis. In 2011, Ballymun Regional Youth Resource and Poppintree Youth Project received a combined total of €539,104 in youth funding from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. In 2018, these services received youth funding with a combined total of €1,442,794. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs completed an exercise with Pobal and each of the 16 education and training boards which mapped youth service provision across the State. This mapping exercise will assist the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and each education and training board in developing a detailed social demographic profile in terms of both population numbers and deprivation levels and will inform future development and investment in youth services. For 2019, an extra €1.5 million has been allocated in current funding to support the provision of youth services, which brought the total current youth funding available to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to more than €60 million.

The additional funding is being used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people. The Department has commenced a process to identify service development needs for 2019 and to finalise the 2019 youth funding allocations. The primary purpose of this process is to ensure that youth services are sufficiently resourced to meet the needs of young people, particularly those who are at risk of drugs or alcohol misuse, early school leaving and homelessness or who are living in disadvantaged communities. In this regard, officials in the Department are awaiting the return of completed funding renewal applications on behalf of youth projects throughout the country which are due to be submitted by 21 December 2018. On receipt of these completed renewal applications, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will be in a position to finalise the funding allocation which will be provided for each youth project in 2019, having regard to the overall budgetary position.

I will address the Senator's other comments when I come back in.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I realise the Minister could not be here and I appreciate the Minister of State coming in on her behalf. The Minister of State outlined the issues around the funding and purpose of the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource and the Poppintree Youth Project. However, we were talking about restoring funding to 2008 levels, whereas the Minister of State referred to the funding available in 2011, which was a time of many cuts. That is just one element of what is required across Departments and Government. This needs to be targeted towards Ballymun in conjunction with Dublin City Council, which should meet public representatives on the ground.

We cannot simply leave it to the Ballymun Regional Youth Resource to tackle a crack cocaine crisis in Ballymun. It is not within the organisation's gift to tackle all of the areas that need to be addressed, such as aggressive begging and anti-social behaviour. I can only deal with the youth who come before it. The Garda, social services and the local community need to be involved and that needs co-ordination by the Government and Dublin City Council. I call on the Taoiseach to meet Councillor Paul McAuliffe and other public representatives on the ground in Ballymun to ensure a response is provided for the benefit of the area's residents. They feel threatened by the anti-social behaviour taking place. Ballymun should be used as a template for other communities in Dublin and beyond which are blighted by drug use and the current crack cocaine epidemic.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have been speaking to Deputy Rock about this issue and I know he is in the process of trying to arrange a date with the Taoiseach to visit Ballymun. I hope that will be finalised some time in the new year. We are all aware of the serious concerns about drugs in every community. Crack cocaine has become popular with many different age groups and with people living in wealthy as well as poorer communities. It is also being used as a social drug.

I have met the GAA club in question and I had some of its members in the Houses for discussions. We are trying to address this issue through the new national Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery strategy. We are examining emerging trends as part of one of our actions to support and influence communities through education and youth projects to tackle the use of different drugs by young persons and vulnerable people. We will look at our policy in that regard in the coming weeks and months.

The local drugs task forces, as the Senator is aware, are funded through the drugs policy department and the Health Service Executive. We all know the reasons funding was cut substantially in recent years. A small amount of funding, up to €20,000, has been made available to each local drugs task force this year, €10,000 of which is to be used within the task force for the members to update their skills, with the other €10,000 to be used to plug some of the gaps in services. It is only a small amount of money but we wish to further fund the task forces in the coming year for specific actions in the national plan. The oversight forum has identified some new actions, particularly for those aged under 18 and other community services.

I can only give the Senator the update the Minister provided as the matter falls within her remit. I responded on the issue of drugs because we strayed into that area. Deputy Rock is in the process of arranging a date with the Department of the Taoiseach for a visit by the Taoiseach to Ballymun. I will ask the Deputy to inform all the other public representatives in the area when that date becomes available. I do not know when that will be at present.

I understand the concerns of the community in Ballymun and communities throughout the country about emerging drugs such as spice and other drugs that are coming into the market and affecting people at a very young age. Young men in particular are being used as runners and to perform other significant duties in the criminal aspects of the drug trade. I will emphasise to the Minister the importance of this issue. As soon as the applications have been received and the budgets examined, decisions will be made on funding.

I understand that it is not only community groups that can tackle this issue. It is a broader issue for many Departments and we need to target areas such as Ballymun and my home area with something similar to what has been done in the north inner city. I will relay that point to the Minister.