Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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623. To ask the Minister for Health when the various sections of the national survey on drug and alcohol use in Ireland conducted by the Health Research Board will be published; the reason for the delay; and if he has received a draft copy of the survey to date. [5042/21]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Health Research Board is responsible for the national survey on drug and alcohol use, also known as the drug prevalence survey.

Ireland has good data on the use of drugs and alcohol at a national level. These data provide information on the nature, extent and consequences of drug and alcohol use. They assist in evidence-informed policy-making and planning of drug and alcohol services. The data also contribute to reporting on drug use at a European level.

The fieldwork for the 2018/2019 survey was completed by a third party organisation in March 2020.  The completion of the fieldwork for the survey was delayed due to difficulties in recruiting respondents. 

The third party organisation delivered the dataset to the Health Research Board (HRB) in August 2020 and HRB staff are currently analysing this dataset and preparing the report.

The report will include the findings from all aspects of the study and will ready for publication in the 2^ndquarter of 2021. 

The Department of Health has not received a draft copy of the survey.  

I look forward to the publication of the survey by the HRB. It is important that the findings on trends in drug and alcohol use inform the mid-term review of actions in the national drugs strategy.