Funding for drugs and addiction services in some of the most deprived areas of the State has been cut by almost 80 per cent since 2010, figures provided by the Department of Health show.
A year-on-year breakdown of the cuts to each of the 14 local drugs taskforces shows some suffered cumulative funding cuts of more than 90 per cent in the past five years.
The 14 taskforces have seen their combined funding fall from €20.9 million in 2010 to €4.4 million this year, a cut of 79 per cent. The figure includes a transfer of €692,000 from the Department of Health to the HSE this year for drugs services, which provided extra funding of about €49,000 to each taskforce.
Largest cuts
The taskforce that suffered the largest cuts since 2010 is the Dublin 12 Local Drugs Task Force, based in Crumlin. Its funding fell from €1.18 million to €70,997 this year, a cut of 93 per cent.
The South Inner City Local Drugs Task Force saw its funding fall by 92 per cent, from €2.3 million to €176,043, while the Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown one suffered a cut of 90 per cent, from €975,475 five years ago to €94,676.
The Cork Local Drugs Task Force saw funding cut by 75 per cent, from €1.66 million to €411,988 this year, while the Bray taskforce suffered a 65 per cent cut, from €1.6 million in 2010 to €573,860 this year.
During the same period the number of registered drug-addicts on methadone maintenance increased from 9,266 in 2010 to 9,887 at the end of March this year. There are also 532 addicts on methadone in prisons.
Source: Kitty Holland, The Irish Times, 05/05/15
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