Community Reps meet Minister Carey

5 Dec 2007

Over 50 local and regional taskforce community reps gathered in the Clock Tower, Dept of Education on November 7th to hear feedback from the NDST & IDG Community Reps and to officially meet the Minister with responsibility for the Drugs Strategy, Pat Carey, TD and the Chairperson of the NDST Barry O'Brien.


Minister Carey outlined his priorities:

  • Engage with Communities
  • All players involved in the national drugs strategy are equal partners
  • Commitment to a Continuum of Care which includes childcare through to education/rehab/employment/post treatment supports
  • Exploring alternatives to Methadone
  • Implementing the Rehabilitation Report and establishing the Rehab co- ordinators positions and committee
  • Increasing the 1,000 ring-fenced CE places to 1,300
  • Supporting more initiatives for Family Supports
  • Developing the Alcohol Strategy

Barry O'Brien saw the following as major issues:
We cannot lose sight of problematic drug being an acute problem in specific areas; although statistically it only affects a low percentage of the population, the consequences of drug misuse continues to have a devastating impact in local communities.
Poly-drug use, particularly our society's unhealthy relationship with alcohol
Cocaine - levels of aggression and intimidation
Heroin has not gone away

Challenges for the NDST:

  • Reviewing the impact of the existing strategy and developing a new strategy from 2008
  • Continuing to focus on core work of the team: to support the work of the local and regional drug taskforces
  • Evaluate round 2 LDTF projects and the mainstreaming of projects
  • Implementing the recommendations of the Rehab working group - community has to be a key component
  • Re-engagement and re-commitment by all stakeholders in the National Drugs Strategy
  • The RDTF's have to develop at a consistent pace