Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 321: To ask the Minister for Health and Children his plans to allocate further funding to the Tallaght drugs task force, Dublin, to ensure the continuation of the dial to stop drug dealing campaign; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13429/11]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Dial to Stop Drug Dealing is a safe, confidential and completely anonymous phone line for people to pass on information on drug dealing, which has been in operation since September 2008. A national initiative to publicise the phone line, which involved 15 local/regional 'Dial to Stop' campaigns, was undertaken from October 2008 to July 2009 through the mechanism of Local and Regional Drugs Task Forces, including Tallaght Local Drugs Task Force.

The funding for the initiative, which is managed centrally, included support for the local and regional campaigns as well as the costs of operating the phone line. The campaign was re-launched in October 2010 with a two week national promotional campaign, followed by local campaigns at Drugs Task Force level. Since 2008, over €689,000 has been allocated to this campaign. The phone line has resulted in over 9,800 calls received and 2,800 reports made to the Gardaí. An evaluation of the 2010 campaign has been completed and is currently under consideration. The evaluation will inform the future approach to the initiative.