Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on privately run drug treatment programmes; if he supports these programmes; if he will ensure that local drugs task forces channel funding into these programmes even if they cater for the wider community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47014/09]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The Health Service Executive has a long established relationship with voluntary sector providers of drug treatment programmes across the country. In this context, my focus in recent months has been to improve inter-agency working and co-operation between statutory and voluntary service providers and to this end, a small working group, chaired by my Department, is currently working through a number of issues.

Before I would consider channelling Drugs Task Force funding into privately run treatment programmes, I would need to be fully satisfied that the quality standards and clinical governance arrangements, as set down for residential treatment providers, are being adhered to and complied with. In the context of more limited resources that will be available in the short to medium term, such programmes would also have to show that they are competitive and represent value for money.