Feighan: no proposal to remove groups from drugs task force

 Minister of State Frank Feighan.  The Oireachtas Health Committee heard claims a week ago from CityWide, a representative group of community drug groups, that the minister was due to introduce plans  to remove organisations from the strategy's National Oversight Committee.

 Minister of State at the Department of Health Frank Feighan has told an Oireachtas committee that there is no proposal to “remove” community groups from a key implementation body of the National Drugs Strategy.

The Oireachtas Health Committee heard claims a week ago from CityWide, a representative group of community drug groups, that the minister was due to introduce plans last Friday to remove organisations such as itself from the strategy's National Oversight Committee.

Most members of the committee urged that they send a request to the minister to either pause or reverse his decision and agreed to meet on the drafting of a letter.

The committee has not yet sent their letter after receiving an email from the minister’s private secretary, through various advisors and officials.

Regarding the claims made at the committee, the email said: “I wish to clarify the following from the point of view of Minister Feighan and the Department of Health: There is no proposal to remove community and voluntary networks, including CityWide, from the national oversight committee for the national drugs strategy.” 

It said that community and voluntary groups “will continue to have four representatives” on the NOC, along with a further two representatives from task forces.

It said that a majority of the members of the NOC will be non-governmental.

“The Department is proposing to establish a civil society group on drugs, which will widen and deepen the involvement of community and voluntary groups in the implementation of the strategy,” the statement said.

Group meetings

The email said there had been “a broad welcome” for the proposal to establish a civil society group and that the Department was meeting with relevant groups to discuss the format and operation of the group.

Last Wednesday, CityWide coordinator Anna Quigley told the health committee that it appeared the Civil Society Group would not be an addition in the NOC — something, she said, they would welcome — but a “replacement” for the existing groups.

She told the committee: “If this is allowed to go ahead this Friday it brings down the curtain on the inter-agency partnership approach that has been at the heart of our national drugs strategy since 1996.

"We’ll be turning our backs on communities like Tallaght and all the other communities around the country and we’re calling on the government and all of you to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

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 It prompted a strong response from most members, who criticised the purported move and called for an urgent message to be sent to the minister.

Members also called for a committee meeting with the minister, and his senior officials, as soon as possible.

Correspondence from the department suggests a possible meeting in mid to late January.

Last Wednesday’s meeting also heard of fears of a “funding crisis” next month among local drug groups in Tallaght, almost a month on from research by the Tallaght Drug and Alcohol Task Force regarding the worsening crack cocaine problem there.

The task force and local group, Jobstown Assisting Drug Dependency, asked the committee to raise this matter with the minister and department officials – which the committee agreed to do.