Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 100: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the criteria that must be met by local organisations applying for funding from the local drugs task force; the persons who make the final decision in allocating the funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32477/07]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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When they were first established, the fourteen Local Drugs Task Forces (LDTFs) were charged with assessing the nature and extent of the illicit drug problems in their areas of operation and with developing action plans for a co-ordinated response to those problems. Following extensive consultation, such plans were produced for all LDTF areas.

Specific projects to deliver on the priorities identified in the action plans were proposed through the LDTFs to the National Drugs Strategy Team (NDST) for consideration. Proposals were subsequently approved, if considered appropriate, by the then Minister with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy and signed off by the Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion.

In this context, the Deputy should note that the LDTFs oversee and monitor the implementation of the approved projects. The NDST, in turn, oversees and monitors the on-going work of the LDTFs and provides regular updates to the Interdepartmental Group on Drugs, which I chair.

In 2005, an Emerging Needs Fund was established to provide funding to LDTFs to enable them to respond in a flexible way to emerging drugs issues in their areas. Applications, endorsed by the Task Forces, were submitted to the NDST for consideration and, thereafter, for recommendation to the Minister who made the final decisions. A total of 67 projects were approved under this Fund at a cost of €4m.

LDTFs also allocate small amounts of once-off funding to community-based projects under a "Small Grants Scheme". Initiatives involved include summer projects, local drug awareness campaigns and prevention and education programmes. The Task Forces make the final decisions on the applications for funding under this scheme.

As regards capital, project promoters can apply for funding under the Premises Initiative. This is done through the relevant LDTF, and then on to the NDST, with the final approval being a matter for myself, as the Minister responsible for the Drugs Strategy.