1158. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Health if her department increased core funding, as opposed to funding for pilots, one-off pieces of work or research, for local drug and alcohol taskforces; and to confirm the amount of the increase for each task force, in tabular form. [47834/25]

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Colm Burke): The Slaintecare 2025+ vision is to provide universal, accessible, affordable, person-centred, safe and high quality health and social care for all the people of Ireland. This vision is equally applicable to the provision of drug and alcohol treatment services.

An additional €4.2 million was secured in Budget 2025 for the implementation of the national drugs strategy. The new initiatives in Budget 2025 will enhance access to and delivery of drug and alcohol services in the community, develop harm reduction responses and integrated care pathways for high-risk drug users, strengthen the prevention of drug and alcohol use among children and young people and minimise the harms of drug use for families and communities.

I recently announced a significant investment in alcohol treatment services in response to growing demand. The Department has committed €1 million in 2025, rising to €1.8 million in 2026, to expand and enhance alcohol treatment services across all six Health Service Executive (HSE) health regions for the first time.

I provided an additional €1.89m in recurring funding to enhance community-based drug services to meet increased treatment demand, with a focus on improving access to services in underserved communities, promoting evidence-based innovations in service design and delivery, and meeting the needs of people who use stimulant drugs. This recurring funding allocated to the health regions varied between €252,000 and €378,000, depending on population size. (For more details, see: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/press-releases/minister-murnane-oconnor-announces-189-million-funding-for-community-based-drugs-services/#:~:text=The%20Minister%20for%20Public%20Health%2C%20Wellbeing%20and%20the,recurring%20funding%20to%20further%20enhance%20community-based%20drug%20services).

The HSE health regions are advised to engage with service providers, including drug task forces and community-based services, within their area as part of this process of identifying need. Some task forces have undertaken assessment of emerging needs and trends in their areas and have valuable insights in informing the overall understanding of unmet need. It is envisaged that proposals for service enhancement will be developed through a partnership model between HSE Health Regions, drug task forces and community-based services.

I am committed to enhancing access and delivery of drug and alcohol services in line with the Slaintecare 2025+ vision. In particular, I want to see equitable provision of services between (and within) health regions, in line with population need.