Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 101: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs when the National Advisory Committee on Drugs will next issue a report; the issues being considered for this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36944/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The National Advisory Committee on Drugs, NACD, was established in July 2000 to advise the Government in relation to the prevalence, prevention, treatment and consequences of problem drug use in Ireland, based on the committee's analysis and interpretation of research findings and information available to it. Its membership reflects statutory, community, voluntary, academic and research interests. In July 2004, the Government extended the mandate of the NACD up until the end of 2008.

To date, the committee has either completed or commissioned research on a range of drugs issues. Among the more high profile research projects are: overview of research in relation to the prevention of drug misuse, published in December 2001; Prevalence Estimate of Opiate Users — results released in May 2003; All-Ireland Drugs Prevalence Survey on Drug Use — 1st bulletin, outline of overall results, released October 2003; 2nd bulletin, regional results, released April 2004; 3rd bulletin, cannabis use, released October 2005; Study on Cocaine use in Ireland, published in December 2003; Review of Harm Reduction Approaches, published in May 2004; Study on Cannabis, published in September 2004; Drug Use and Homelessness, published in April 2005; and the Longitudinal Study on Treatment Outcomes, Research ongoing.

The next publication planned by the NACD will be the fourth bulletin from the drugs prevalence survey, which will focus on cocaine use. No date has been scheduled although it is envisaged that it will be released early in the new year.