Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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59. To ask the Minister for Health the funding that will be given to each of the drug and alcohol taskforces in 2023. [61282/22]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Health provides €28 million in recurring funding for 280 community-based drug and alcohol services annually. In 2019, additional funding of €1m was provided for drug and alcohol task forces, including €240,000 on a recurring basis for core budgets.

It is a strategic priority under the national drugs strategy for 2021-2025 to enhance access to and delivery of drug and alcohol services in the community. This priority seeks to provide health and social care services at the community level to meet identified health needs for people who use drugs. In line with this priority, I established a €2 million fund to enhance community-based drug and alcohol services - the Community Services Enhancement Fund (CSEF), in 2022. 

In Budget 2023, I secured an additional €10.5m for the national drugs strategy and inclusion health. The funding will be used to expand HSE healthcare services and to support community & voluntary organisations to improve access to health and social care services. It includes an allocation of €0.5 million for community-based drug and alcohol services to address new and emerging patterns of drug use. There is a further allocation of €3.5m to maintain existing levels of service for community and voluntary organisations providing drug and alcohol and inclusion health services including those under the ambit of Drug and Alcohol Task Forces. Details of the additional funding are outlined in the attached factsheet.  

Budget 2023 factsheet

Drug and alcohol will shortly be informed of their individual allocation for 2023.