Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 407: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the funding allocated to the North East Regional Drugs Task Force in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4714/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Between 2005 and 2008, the North Eastern Regional Drugs Task Force (NERDTF) was allocated the following funding to implement their strategic plan:

2005 — €410,000;

2006 — €636,410;

2007 — €891,644;

2008 — €1,082,902.

This funding covers a number of projects across the region in the areas of prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation and family support. In addition to this funding, the Task Force was also approved €75,000 in 2008 under the Cocaine Initiative to employ a number of sessional facilitators to provide programmes to those affected by cocaine use. A further €20,000 was also allocated under this Initiative to run a locally-based cocaine awareness campaign to dovetail with the HSE-led national campaign.

With regard to capital funding, the NERDTF has been approved funding of nearly €1.65m for four projects under the Premises Initiative. This Fund aims to address the accommodation needs of community based drugs projects in Task Force areas. Details of the approvals are in the following table.

In addition, in 2008, the NERDTF was approved funding for two projects valued at nearly €570,000 under the Regional Youth Initiative. This initiative provided capital funding for the development of dedicated youth facilities in Regional Drugs Task Force areas not covered under the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund (YPFSF). Key to approvals was the linking of projects into the overall drug prevention strategy for their particular area. Details of the approvals are in the table. Overall, I am satisfied that the incremental funding allocated to the NERDTF has enabled the Task Force to develop key services in their area and I am confident that the progress made to date will be built on over the coming years.