Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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567. To ask the Minister for Health the amount of funding given to each county as part of community services enhancement fund in each of the years 2014 to 2024 and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40602/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Community Service Enhancement Fund (CSEF) was established in 2022, as the national funding mechanism to enhance community-based drug services. The CESF is a population-based resource allocation model based on the HSE health regions and including areas covered by drug task forces. It implements the strategic priority in the national drugs strategy to enhance access to, and delivery of, drug services in the community, which will continue to be a key building block in the new strategy currently being developed.

Budget 2022 provided €2m for the establishment of the Community Services Enhancement Fund (CSEF). Using a population-based resource allocation model CHOs 2, 3, 5 & 6 each received €200,000 and CHOs 1, 4, 7, 8 & 9 each received €240,000 in recurring funding. Each CHO subsequently allocated the funding to approximately 50 community-based services founded on the needs analysis carried out in each area.

In 2025, the Department provided an additional €1.89m in recurring funding through the CSEF to enhance community-based drug services. As announced in , the purpose is to expand community-based drug services to meet increased treatment demand, with a focus on improving access to services in underserved communities, promoting evidence-based innovations in service design and delivery, and meeting the needs of people who use stimulant drugs.

This funding was allocated to the health regions taking into account their population size and drug treatment demand. HSE Health Regions HSE Dublin & North East, HSE Dublin & Midlands, and HSE Dublin & South East are being allocated €378,000, while health regions HSE South West, HSE Midwest and HSE West & North West are being allocated €252,000.

The CSEF meets the Programme for Government commitment to ‘increase funding for drug addiction services including local drug and alcohol taskforces to improve their effectiveness’. It also aligns the with report of the Citizens Assembly on Drug Use, in particular recommendations 15, 18 and 31.

The CSEF reflects the principles underpinning Sláintecare, which advocates for ‘right care, right place, right time’. The aim is to enhance access to, and delivery of, drug services in the community, through an integrated model of care.