Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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590. To ask the Minister for Health the number of times the Oversight Forum on Drugs has met in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26612/16]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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593. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide the attendance records of representatives of the education awareness prevention pillars at meetings held under the National Drug Strategy from 2008 to 2016 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26615/16]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 590 and 593 together.

I have overall responsibility for the implementation of the National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016, which addresses the issue of problem drug use through five inter-connected pillars dealing with supply reduction, prevention (including education & awareness), treatment, rehabilitation and research.

The Oversight Forum on Drugs (OFD) which I chair, is responsible for the high-level monitoring of progress being achieved across the Strategy and meets on a quarterly basis. The OFD met on 20 occasions between 2011 and 2015. The Forum has met twice so far in 2016 and the next meeting is scheduled to take place on 7 October.

I have asked the Department of Health to provide the Deputy with the attendance records of representatives of the prevention pillar at meetings of the national structures held under the current National Drugs Strategy.

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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591. To ask the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to hosting a drugs summit to hear the opinions of all interest groups with a view towards developing policy in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26613/16]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a Steering Committee, with an independent chair, has been established to advise me on a new National Drugs Strategy, which will commence in 2017, when the current policy expires. On 6 September, I announced the details of a public consultation in order to assist the Steering Committee determine the key priorities to be addressed in the new Strategy. The public consultation will take place over a six week period and end on 18 October. A report on the consultation process will be prepared by independent consultants engaged by the Department and submitted to the Steering Committee to inform their deliberations.

In order to provide a nationwide perspective on the drug problem, regional consultation events have been held in Carrick on Shannon, Limerick, Dublin and Cork. Due to the level of interest in the public consultation, additional events will take place in Galway on 30 September and Kilkenny on 3 October. People can also provide their feedback by making a written submission, completing an online questionnaire or using a lo-call phone line. Further information about the consultation process can be found on the Department of Health website at www.health.gov.ie/drugs-strategy/.

In addition, prior to starting work on the new Strategy, the Department of Health held a "Think Tank" on Ireland's drug problem in July 2015, to give those working in frontline services a chance to voice their thoughts on what needs to be done for the future.