Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount of funding provided by his Department to drug rehabilitation centres over the past three years; the location of centres that may have received funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14268/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his proposals to support those involved in community based and support drug rehabilitation programmes; his intention to develop or expand such schemes in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14201/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 30 together.

Of the total drugs funding available in my Department's Vote in 2010, in the region of 93% is targeted at Task Force related activities. This funding supports a broad range of community groups involved in various drugs initiatives across the different pillars of the National Drugs Strategy and is channelled through the 24 Local and Regional Drugs Task Forces.

In excess of €31m is being made available to fund the activities of the Task Forces in 2010 and this will support approximately 500 initiatives. Of this funding, in the region of 50% will support projects with a treatment and rehabilitation focus or where treatment and rehabilitation forms part of a project's objectives. This also includes additional dedicated funds, originally approved in 2008, to support rehabilitation initiatives in Task Force areas.

The Task Forces had the discretion to fund projects and initiatives identified as priorities in their areas from the 2010 allocation from my Department. I would envisage the same principle applying for 2011 funding where Task Forces would, again, be in a position to develop or expand initiatives — including those with a treatment and rehabilitation focus — should they opt to do so based on identified local or regional needs.

With particular regard to funding for drug rehabilitation centres, I am assuming that the Deputy is referring to residential rehabilitation services. In this regard, I would draw his attention to the Residential Rehabilitation Framework Group established by my colleague, Mr John Curran, T.D., while he was Minister of State with responsibility for the Drugs Strategy. This Group, established in mid-2009, has been examining a range of issues around better service integration, quality standards and clarity and consistency in regard to funding arrangements for residential rehabilitation. The Group is chaired by the Office of the Minister for Drugs and also includes representatives from the HSE, the Probation Service and a number of voluntary sector residential service providers.

The Group's deliberations are nearing completion and will feed into the overall work of the National Drug Rehabilitation Implementation Committee (NDRIC). The NDRIC has overall responsibility for developing the comprehensive response in this area, in line with the recommendations of the Report of the Working Group on Drugs Rehabilitation.

The residential rehabilitation organisations in receipt of funding from my Department in the period 2008-2010 are detailed in Table 1 below.

Capital funding was also provided by my Department in 2008 to the following residential rehabilitation projects:

Peter McVerry Trust/Whitworth Road Project — €0.579m;

Arbour House Treatment Centre in Cork — €0.5m; and

St. James Resource Centre, Enfield — €1.13m.