A country in which half of heroin users are on methadone replacement treatment is doing "damn well by international standards", Minister of State Noel Ahern insisted. Mr Ahern was defending the level of funding for tackling drug abuse and the speed at which regional drugs task forces were being developed.
The Minister told Damien English (Fine Gael, Meath) that of about 8,000 people on methadone, about 450 live outside Dublin.
"Waiting lists are increasing in towns outside Dublin, particularly in Leinster, because services are being provided outside Dublin. The reason there were no queues in the past was that services were not available. It takes time to extend services because not everyone can distribute methadone and it takes time to train doctors."
Mr English called for the funds acquired by the Criminal Assets Bureau to be put back into tackling drugs. He said although €5 million was being given to the regional drugs task forces, that was less than €250,000 per county to tackle drugs.
Mr Ahern said "the deputy should not blame me if the task forces did not seek adequate funding. They cannot put their plans into place on one day. It takes time and some of them are moving quicker than others."
Earlier, Labour's community affairs spokesman Brian O'Shea accused the Minister of lacking urgency in rolling out the regional task forces and said that "the cocaine market has grown 10-fold in the past four years. Networks have been broken up by the Garda in locations such as Portlaoise, Killarney, Meath, Skerries and Maynooth."
The Minister pointed out that €70 million a year was being spent on programmes.
