Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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69. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the status for the specific community employment drug rehabilitation programmes in view of recent changes to community employment eligibility and so on; and if his attention has been drawn to the special skill sets required for the supervisors on those particular schemes. [25901/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I want to assure the Deputy that the status of the specific Community Employment (CE) Drug Rehabilitation Programme will not be affected by the proposed changes in CE eligibility. The Drugs Programme Framework, including the revised special conditions under which CE is delivered, will continue to apply. The CE eligibility conditions will continue to be waived for participants who are referred to a CE drug rehabilitation place. The entry age for a drug rehabilitation place is set at 18 years of age.

As the Deputy will be aware, the focus of the CE drug schemes is on rehabilitation, education and training and personal/social development. Multi-agency co-operation – with the HSE and Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) - is essential for the achievement of successful outcomes of participants. The inter-agency DSP CE Drug Advisory Group (DAG) works to ensure that the programme meets the needs of the referred target group and remains relevant and effective. In addition to participation on the dedicated schemes, referred clients may also take up places on mainstream CE schemes.

The skills set for a CE Supervisors on the drug rehabilitation programme have been reviewed and updated in recognition of the competencies required to deliver a drug rehabilitation programme. The revised skill set was agreed with the DSP CE DAG. Furthermore, as part of the revised conditions and to ensure the effective delivery of the drug programme, the “support worker” element of programme delivery has been strengthened and the role expanded to enable mainstream CE participants, with an interest in addiction, to apply to join a rehabilitation scheme and pursue relevant training and development.

The Deputy should note that at the end of Dec. 2016, there were 1,125 participants on drug rehabilitation places on CE. This includes 987 participants referred for rehabilitation and 138 support workers who support the delivery of the places.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.