Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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800. To ask the Minister for Health the measures he is taking to ensure that the budget for the drugs initiative will be protected from further disproportionate cuts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33092/14]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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819. To ask the Minister for Health if he will ensure there are no further cuts to the drugs initiative in the budget 2015 (details supplied). [33155/14]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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823. To ask the Minister for Health his plans regarding the drugs initiative programme to combat drug misuse; his plans for this programme in 2015; if the service will be maintained at current levels or expanded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33167/14]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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889. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to maintain the existing funding levels to the drugs initiative (details supplied) in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33368/14]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1101. To ask the Minister for Health the amount of funding provided for the drugs initiative under the national drugs strategy each year for the past four years; the reason for the decline in funding; the trends in the use of illegal substances in that time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34515/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 800, 819, 823, 889 and 1101 together.

In furtherance of the National Drugs Strategy (NDS), my Department administers a Drugs Initiative which primarily funds community based drugs projects supported by the Drug and Alcohol Task Forces. The level of funding provided in the Drugs Initiative since 2008 has changed significantly, due to the transfer of €19.9m in respect of the Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund to the then Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on 1 January 2009 and more recently the transfer of €21.57m from the Vote of my Department to the HSE in relation to Task Force treatment and rehabilitation projects on 1 January 2014.This year, a total of €7.381m has been provided in the Drugs Initiative of which €6.6m has been allocated to Task Force projects.

In recent years the nature and scale of drug misuse has changed due to the increasing geographical dispersal of problem drug use (including heroin use), the increased prevalence of polydrug use, the increased strength of cannabis, and the emergence of new psychoactive substances.The response of the HSE has involved the re-orientation of its addiction services towards polydrug issues, using a 4-tiered model approach as a national framework through which to deliver services.

I would like to point out that cross-departmental provision for Drugs Programmes has been maintained at very significant levels since 2008.In 2014, a total of €240.135m has been allocated for drugs programmes and initiatives across Government departments and agencies, representing a reduction of approximately 13% on expenditure levels in 2008. In the context of the resource constraints arising from the economic crisis, this level of funding emphasises the Government's ongoing commitment to the implementation of the NDS, with the overall policy objective of targeting resources at areas where there is the highest concentration of drugs activity. Funding in 2015 for community drugs initiatives will be determined in the context of the Estimates process, taking into account the need to protect frontline service provision as far as possible.

Details of the Drugs Initiative allocations between 2008 and 2014 are set out in the table.