Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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403. To ask the Minister for Health if the western region drugs task force received funding in 2014; the purpose of the funding; the achievements of the WRDTF to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49086/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Western Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force (WRDATF) was set up in 2003. The Task Force supports the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy in the context of local needs through delivering on the objectives of its current regional strategy'The Way Forward'.

A total of €136,994 has been allocated from the Drugs Initiative Fund of my Department to community drugs initiatives in the WRADTF area this year. The reduced allocation in 2014 reflects the fact that funding of €524,155 for treatment and rehabilitation projects in the Western RDATF area was transferred to the HSE by my Department on 1 January 2014.

Since the Task Force was established, it has delivered a range of initiatives to tackle the problem of drug and alcohol misuse. These include the development and roll out of an education training support manual, a multi-agency Parents Drug Education Initiative, annual "Junior Cert Night" initiatives and regional drug and alcohol awareness weeks. Recently, the WRDATF has been involved in the development and roll out of the Galway Alcohol Strategy and the Ballinasloe Alcohol Strategy.