Austerity policies leaving poorest communities vulnerable

Successive government policies have damaged the country’s poorest communities and undermined local structures to combat the drugs crisis, according to new research.

The report said power has been removed from affected areas and centralised at government level, where the system is “utterly disconnected” from the needs of people and communities.

It said austerity “exacerbated” the problem by cutting funding to education, health, housing and welfare supports, local drug task- forces as well as community and voluntary groups.