Anti-drugs drive costs €183m a year

IRELAND spends the fifth most in the EU in dealing with illegal drugs, according to a new survey.

The Irish State spends €183 million a year on prevention, treatment and supply reduction, equivalent to €49 per capita.

This places us fifth out of 15 EU member states, behind the Netherlands, Sweden, Britain and Luxembourg.

As a percentage of our national wealth, or GDP, the expenditure is equivalent to 0.27% of GDP, which would make us fourth highest in the EU states surveyed.

The expenditure is calculated on the basis of GDP of €68,000m in 2000 and a population of 3.75m.

The study, carried out by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), found that more than two thirds of expenditure was on supply reduction, mainly garda and customs operations and activities.

A breakdown of the expenditure shows:

Department of Education and Science spent €8m (or 4% of all expenditure).

Department of Health and Children spent €32m (18%).

Department of Justice spent €125m (68%).

Other departments spent €18m (10%).

The report noted that the figures for Ireland were very partial and incomplete and also excluded expenditure on other areas, such as the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund (YPFS) and the local drug task forces (LDTFs).

A spokeswoman for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs which operates the National Drugs Strategy (NDS) said a total of 80m had been spent on LDTFs since 1997, an average of 10m a year.

She said €75m had been spent on the YPFS since 1997, equivalent to over €9m a year on average.

These two substantial funds combined would add more than €19m to the 2000 estimates, bringing it to just over €200m.

The spokeswoman said the YPFS would be included within the prevention part of the NDS. "It includes youth workers, outreach workers, sports centres and community centres.

In addition to the money outlined above, she said the NDS had a budget of €27m this year. The Minister of State with responsibility for the NDS, Noel Ahern, said he hoped to secure an increased budget in the forthcoming Estimates.