In December 2022, Hildegarde Naughton TD was appointed as the new Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, as well as Government Chief Whip. Minister Naughton has been a Fine Gael TD for Galway West since 2016. Her ministerial role focuses on the promotion of healthier lifestyles and policies to improve the health of people in Ireland, including overseeing the delivery of Ireland’s national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery 2017-2025.¹

Among the most pressing issues facing the new Minister will be the establishment of the Citizens’ Assembly on drugs, committed to by the Government in its Programme for Government.² Speaking to the Seanad on behalf of the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, in November 2022, she said:

There are two issues in particular that the Citizens’ Assembly on drug use could consider. The first is how to better meet the diverse health needs of people who use drugs, while the second is how to prevent the harmful impact of drugs on children, families and communities.³

1    Department of Health (2017) Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery: a health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017–2025. Dublin: Department of Health. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27603/

2    Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party (2020) Programme for Government: our shared future. Dublin: Department of the Taoiseach. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/32212/

3    Naughton H (2022) Seanad Debates. 29 November 2022. Vol. 290, No. 6. Available from: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2022-11-29/3/