Drug misuse education campaigns
Deputy Gould asks when promised self-harm and drug-misuse education programmes will be rolled out and jokes about the Minister needing training. The Taoiseach treats it as a serious cross-departmental issue and says work will be done quickly.
Page 56 of the programme for Government commits the Government to self-harm education programmes on drug misuse. Last week the new Minister was unaware of the serious issues relating to nitrous oxide abuse. When will these education campaigns be rolled out? What format will they take? Will the Taoiseach commit to requesting that the new Minister take one of these courses? He obviously needs it.
Comment on this
This is a very serious issue. The broad area of alcohol and drug abuse, in particular the degree to which young people are targeted, is very serious indeed. We will be working on it. It has to be cross-cutting and cross-departmental to be effective, between the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Health, as well as youth services. That is something we will attend to as quickly as we possibly can.