Heroin use and inner-city disadvantage
Gregory linked heroin use to acute social disadvantage and asked about restoring funding to a local youth project; he also sought the task force’s timetable. Desmond cited low education and employment among young heroin users, but disputed that funding for Dublin’s inner city had been reduced.
In relation to my earlier questions, how soon will the Government task force be reporting? How quickly does the Minister feel he will be able to respond to the specific questions I asked? Is he concerned that the concentrated use of heroin seems to be confined to areas of acute social disadvantage? I am sure the Minister sees a link between the two. Is he concerned that his Department withdrew funds from community projects operating in that specific area? Will he consider the reallocation of funds to a specific project, of which he is well aware, which was working with young people who, in many cases, were involved with heroin?
Comment on this
The Deputy is correct in relation to the socio-economic groupings involved. The most recent report shows that only six of the 88 heroin abusers between the ages of 15 and 24 had gone to a secondary school and ten of them could not read or write. Of the 88 only four were employed and a very large number of them had been in prison at one time or another. I would not agree with the Deputy that I have in any way diminished the availability of funds to the inner city area of Dublin.