Senator Lynn Ruane I move amendment No. 60:

In page 95, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following:

"(i) a local drug and alcohol taskforce,".

We have had some brief discussion on this issue previously. The amendment seeks to add local drug and alcohol task forces to the definition of what constitutes a public service body under the Bill. As drafted, the Bill includes references to a vast range of public service bodies, including education and training boards, but omits local drug and alcohol task forces. The Bill provides that public service bodies are charged with a duty and responsibility to take steps to improve community safety, including through the prevention of harm to individuals. The Bill also sets out the regulations for the establishment of community safety partnerships and the proposed replacement of joint policing committees, provision for the representation of public service bodies in the membership of the partnerships and the terms of the co-operation between the partnerships and the public service bodies.

I have observed previously that those who are closest to a problem are often closest to its solution. On many occasions in this Chamber over the years, we have spoken about how local drug and alcohol task forces are at the coalface of the delivery of the national drugs strategy, providing bespoke local solutions to problem drug use and addiction in their relevant areas, including issues like street dealing and street use. The task forces comprise partnerships between the statutory, voluntary and community sectors. They are uniquely placed in terms of their expertise and their relationship with and standing in communities. Given the role they play in harm reduction and the promotion of community safety and quality of life in local areas, it seems worthwhile to designate them as public service bodies for the purposes of the Bill. Doing so would, critically, facilitate their representation on community safety partnerships, which are likely to spends lots of time developing strategies to curtail problem drug use. Within many task force structures, there are representatives of the youth sector, the community development sector and the addiction sector. Everybody is represented in that space. I have just retired after three years as chair of a local drug and alcohol task force. Our agenda includes a running item on community safety and a running update from the joint policing forum. A member of the task force sits on the joint policing forum and feeds into the task force, and vice versa.

Local drug and alcohol task forces have existed for a long time, focusing on community safety and ensuring they have representatives sitting in different community safety spaces. Not to have them named in the Bill, when they have played a crucial role in community safety for so long, would be an oversight on the Department's behalf.

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