Question:158. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the reason funding for the drug-related intimidation liaison role at the western area support project will not be renewed; and the specific alternative supports that will be in its place to ensure victims and families facing organised crime drug-related intimidation will continue to receive equivalent specialist assistance without interruption. [6122/26]

Deputy Gary Gannon: I ask the Minister the reason that funding for the drug-related intimidation liaison role at the Whitechurch addiction service was not renewed this year; and the specific alternative supports that will be in its place to ensure victims and families facing organised crime and drug-related intimidation will continue to receive equivalent specialist assistance without interruption.

Deputy Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Deputy for his question in respect of the Whitechurch addiction support programme. As the Deputy will be aware, there is funding available under the community safety fund. I think I spoke to him about it before in the justice committee. It is funding that is available to go back into local communities, particularly those that have affected by criminality, and is the proceeds of crime. Since it was launched in 2022, it has supported 127 community safety projects all across Ireland. The fund is now managed by the national office for community safety in my Department that was established last year.

From the outset, the fund has been dedicated to one-off initiatives or short-to-medium-term projects limited to two years. Documentation made available for potential applicants to the safety fund in 2025 reiterated this. It is also made clear that repeat funding of community safety-funded projects would not be considered. As part of the process, applicants are asked to outline the sustainability of their project and the potential to mainstream or scale up the project beyond the community safety fund once the short-term funding has ended.

However, I am very conscious of the very important and valuable support provided by the Whitechurch addition support programme. This programme clearly delivers crucial support in the community and I would suggest the sponsors contact the national office for community safety - I can give the Deputy the details - for advice on other funding streams that could be explored. In October, I announced the allocation of €4.4 million through the community safety fund to 42 new community safety projects nationwide.

There are other sources of funding available. I am happy to engage with the Deputy in putting the national community office in touch with Whitechurch. If it is a commendable project, which I believe it is, it can apply for other sources. There is no guarantee that if a project gets funding under the community safety fund one year that it will get it the next year.

Deputy Gary Gannon: That is probably part of the issue. I have raised drug-related intimidation with the Minister on numerous occasions. I am not sure, in terms of this particular project, if it availed of the community safety fund. I suspect it did, which is why that is not being renewed, given the requirement for a project to be something new that has not been funded previously. Therefore, it would not be eligible. I am also very conscious of drug-related intimidation being seen as something that is a scourge on communities the length and breadth of Ireland, but tackling it is not particularly well funded. I spoke to the Minister today at the committee about the fact that the drug-related intimidation and violence engagement, DRIVE, scheme was basically funded to €280,000 a year across the Twenty-six Counties. That equates to less than €20,000 per county. I am also conscious of the €4.4 million from the proceeds of crime fund. Of the 42 projects under that fund this year, only five were in any way related to drug-related intimidation, equating to approximately €473. Essentially, for drug-related intimidation this year alone, the Minister's Department and the Department of Health have allocated less than €700,000. I do not doubt for a second that the Minister recognises drug-related intimidation as something to be confronted, but what I do doubt is the capacity of this minuscule funding to deliver in terms of achieving that aim. I would like to work with him. If we work collaboratively, we can get more things done in this area.

Deputy Jim O'Callaghan: We had a discussion about this today at the justice committee and the Deputy will be aware how I mentioned that it was only last May that the DRIVE project had been launched. I know we had a discussion as to whether €280,000 was sufficient. It is the start. I want to see more money going into it and there is an ask for more money in respect of it. I am very conscious of the impact that drug-related intimidation and violence has on communities. It is important that those communities know they have the support of the State in combating that level of intimidation. If people believe they are on their own and they have no one to turn to, that is a very lonely place for them to be. If, however, there are support groups in place that can provide relief and support to individuals who are suffering drug-related intimidation, that can strengthen them.

The Garda take this matter extremely seriously as well, as the Deputy knows. Anyone who is subjected to drug-related intimidation should report it to the Garda. The Garda will deal with it sensitively. The alternative is we just allow the law of wild west to operate, and that is not acceptable.