Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if he will take steps to improve the partnership process in the national drugs strategy. [2647/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I want to put on record that I do not accept that there has been a deterioration of the partnership process under the National Drugs Strategy. Co-operation across the statutory, community and voluntary sectors has been a constant feature throughout the lifetime of the current Strategy. This is illustrated through many formal structures, such as inter-sectoral representation on the 24 Drug Task Forces, the National Drugs Strategy Team (NDST), the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) and the Inter-Departmental Group on Drugs (IDG), and also through the informal links and contacts around the drugs area.

The community and voluntary sectors are well represented on each of the 14 Local and 10 Regional Drugs Task Forces. They also have a total of 4 representatives on the NDST. All of these organisations also include broad statutory representation, facilitating a partnership approach to all aspects of their work. Meanwhile, the IDG, which I chair, provides a forum for the consideration of policy issues around drugs and the monitoring of progress across the Strategy. Agenda items of the IDG regularly include updates from agencies with responsibility for implementing major actions of the Strategy and all members are free to pursue issues of interest to them in the subsequent discussions.

An extensive consultation process was undertaken last year in regard to the formulation of a new National Drugs Strategy for 2009-2016. This involved meetings with Government Departments and agencies, the community and voluntary sectors, various interested parties and focus groups, as well as an extensive schedule of public consultation meetings at 15 locations across the country. The outcomes of these discussions are being used by the Steering Group, who are working on the development of proposals for a new Strategy, as the basis for much of their deliberations.

As I have stated previously, the overall collaborative and partnership approach of the statutory, voluntary & community sectors has made a significant contribution to the roll-out and effective implementation of drugs programmes. I see a continuation of this partnership approach as being critical for the future success of our efforts to deal effectively with the drugs problem in Ireland. Meanwhile, the development of a new Strategy presents an important opportunity to look at the structures through which it is delivered and to consider whether there are different and more effective ways of achieving our goals. Should the Steering Group make any proposals in the context of the new Strategy, in regard to enhancing the current level of partnership, I will be happy to consider them.