Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the research that was carried out into the workings and effectiveness of the regional drug task forces established under the National Drugs Strategy 2001 to 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40917/08]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 380: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the research that has been carried out into the workings and effectiveness of the Regional Drug Task Forces established under the National Drugs Strategy 2001 to 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41022/08]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 380 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, ten Regional Drugs Task Forces (RDTFs) were established in 2003/04 in the former Health Board areas to develop appropriate policies to deal with drug misuse in the regions.

Across the ten RDTF areas, work is progressing on the implementation of their Action Plans with expenditure in 2007 coming to over €7m. The increased provision in 2008 will allow for the full year cost of the approx. 155 community projects already in progress and the start of a number of new projects, with expenditure expected to reach around €10m by the end of this year. In addition, nearly €2.3m was allocated to 16 projects this year under the Regional Youth Initiative. This Initiative provides capital funding for the development of dedicated youth facilities in RDTF areas not covered under the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund.

No formal research of the workings and effectiveness of the RDTFs has been carried out to date. However, the National Drugs Strategy Team, which oversees the workings of the LDTFs and RDTFs, has undertaken training and induction workshops for new Task Force members on financial and procedural matters. They also meet regularly with the RDTFs Chairpersons and Co-ordinators in order to ensure Task Forces are working effectively.

As the establishment of the Task Force structures was a lengthy process, many of the Task Forces are still relatively new and are still in the process of implementing their actions plans. Therefore, I believe it would be premature at this stage to carry out a review of effectiveness before they have reached their full capacity.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the way he plans to tackle cocaine misuse in 2009 particularly across drugs taskforce areas; the amount of money that he will spend on such measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40887/08]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Funding for projects in Drugs Task Forces action plans in 2009 will be maintained at 2008 levels i.e. €32m. These action plans contain initiatives to tackle a range of issues across the pillars of treatment, rehabilitation, supply reduction as well as prevention measures.

With regard to cocaine, under the Local Drugs Task Force Emerging Needs Fund, seven dedicated cocaine specific projects were approved for funding in 2005/06. A further nine projects aimed at poly-drug/cocaine use are also being supported under that Fund. Over €1m is provided annually through the National Drugs Strategy to support these projects and I recently approved an additional €300,000 to further develop and enhance four of these initiatives. These will continue to be rolled out in 2009.

The Deputy should also note that my Department provided funding for four pilot cocaine projects to examine different methods of treatment for cocaine use, as well as a training initiative for frontline personnel to deal with cocaine issues. In this regard, I recently approved almost €150,000 for one of these projects — located in Tallaght — to further develop their response to cocaine.

Although some savings may have to be identified within the projects above, funding will continue into 2009.

I also provided funding of €500,000 to the Local and Regional Drugs Task Forces to run their own locally based awareness campaigns on cocaine which will highlight the issues raised in the national campaign but will focus on issues relating to cocaine use in their own areas.

Finally, it should be noted that a further €750,000 was allocated this year to address cocaine use in local communities across both Regional and Local Drugs Task Force areas. The majority of this allocation will fund dedicated cocaine and poly-drug workers and 12 such proposals were approved across the Task Force areas. The funding will also provide for cross-Task Force cocaine training. Many of these projects will be rolled out next year or will be rolled out at a protracted rate, taking into consideration the priorities of Task Forces and the savings to be identified in 2009.