Pike, Brigid
(2010)
Participation in international drugs policy arena will add value to Ireland’s drugs strategy.
Drugnet Ireland,
Issue 32, Winter 2009,
pp. 7-9.
The new National Drugs Strategy for 2009–2016 (NDS) includes a blueprint for enhancing Ireland’s role in the international drugs policy arena.1 The Steering Group that drafted the NDS states: ‘Properly co-ordinated international co-operation can, and will, add value to the new NDS’.
For the first time Ireland’s responses to developments in international drugs policy will be centrally co-ordinated, by the newly established Office of the Minister for Drugs (OMD). The Steering Group observes, ‘Given that virtually all the relevant government departments will be represented in the new Office, such co-ordination should be easier to achieve and should become an on-going feature of their work’. Specific co-ordinating tasks will include:
° circulation of draft speeches and briefings to be presented internationally among relevant government departments for prior observations and comment;
° quarterly meetings of key officials from the relevant government departments, or as the need arises;
° annual meeting chaired by the Minister for Drugs to plan Ireland’s broad approach across the various issues and fora; and
° regular six-monthly updates at the Official Forum for Drugs (OFD), or as the need arises.
The value to be gained from more effective co-ordination, according to the Steering Group, will derive partly from enhancing the effectiveness of efforts to address the drugs problem at international level and thereby increasing public safety, and partly from providing opportunities to share experiences with, and learn from, other countries. Minister for Drugs John Curran TD described the value to be gained from participating in EU and international drug policy fora as being ‘the ability to monitor trends, tackle supply reduction and learn from the successes and failures of drugs policies implemented by other countries’.2
Table 6.5 of the new NDS lists eight ‘key EU and other groups and committees’ on which Ireland is represented and the government departments and agencies which attend these meetings. The roles of these bodies are outlined in Table 1. It is through work on these groups and committees that the anticipated additional value may be expected to be delivered. The work of these bodies will, in turn, be driven by the goals and objectives agreed at international and national level, which are listed in Table 2.
Publication Type
Irish-related, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
Substances (not alcohol/tobacco)
Issue Title
Issue 32, Winter 2009
Publisher
Health Research Board
Volume
Issue 32, Winter 2009
Accession Number
HRB (Available)
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