Debate resumed on the following Financial Resolution:
THAT it is expedient to amend the law relating to inland revenue (including value-added tax and excise) and to make further provision in connection with finance...

...Deputy Gary Gannon: When we get the budget every year, I look to see what the greyhound test will be. Sure enough, this year, funding to the greyhound industry again got increased. At the same time, women coming forward to domestic violence services still do not have access to domestic violence refuge beds. There is luxury in this budget, but it is not going to the people who are hardest hit and most pressed to the bone. I represent communities that have been destroyed by drug-related intimidation. It was referenced in the High Court this week that children are being indoctrinated into crime. I thought it would have been taken seriously. It is destroying not just a community like Dublin Central, but it is happening in rural Ireland. Last year, the drug-related intimidation programme this Government initiated received €320,000. I am sure this year's figure will be announced in the next couple of days, but it will not be anywhere near what the greyhound industry is getting. That is a measure of choices and we pay for those choices in innumerable ways. This budget had the capacity to expand, to be innovative and to do great things for people in this country, but it has gone past and that simply will not happen...

...Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor): I am pleased to announce significant new investment in drug services, inclusion health and health and well-being programmes across the country. These investments will reduce health inequalities and strengthen prevention.

A key priority for me has been securing investment to begin the implementation of the new national drugs strategy, which I will be launching next week with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. The harm caused by drug and alcohol use is one of the most significant social challenges, and I have secured an additional €7 million to expand drug and alcohol services across the country and address priorities set out in the new drugs strategy. Ten per cent of this funding has been ring-fenced for prevention and early intervention initiatives for children and young people. A sum of €3.45 million will be provided to the HSE health regions to expand services and address gaps in rural areas. A sum of €2.4 million will be provided to drug and alcohol task forces so they can respond to emerging drug trends and local priorities. I compliment the drug and alcohol task forces on the great work they do.

Additional funding will expand the DRIVE project, supporting individuals and families affected by drug-related intimidation and violence. I am also providing over €1 million for initiatives to support people with a dual diagnosis and other vulnerable groups, while strengthening supports for women with complex needs.

Today's announcement also includes important investment in inclusion health. We are investing €1 million in the Traveller community health workforce and expanding the Brighter Beginnings programme for Traveller children.

In health and well-being, I have secured €2.2 million for Sláintecare Healthy Communities to continue supporting programmes in disadvantaged communities. Expanding social prescribing and supporting initiatives such as women's sheds strengthen social connection. It is important to keep people in our community for as long as we can.

Further investment will support a new stop vaping service and new stop-smoking posts in our maternity services. I have secured €350,000 to support our new tobacco-free Ireland strategy, which will be launched in 2027. This will support research on tobacco and nicotine products with the aim of addressing our stubborn smoking rates....

...Deputy Ann Graves: This budget was a great opportunity to give hope and practical support to people, their families and communities living with the dire consequences of problematic drug and alcohol use. However, the Government wasted the opportunity and showed yet again that it is not on the side of those who urgently need support. It allocated €15 million in support for publicans, yet the total budget for social inclusion, the national drugs strategy, alcohol support and community health and well-being is €36 million. This is a drop in the ocean compared with the challenges that face the drug task forces, community-based drug and alcohol projects and rehabilitation services. I do not want to see any business, particularly family businesses, suffering but allocating €15 million to publicans flies in the face of a public health response to drug and alcohol use.

We need a government that stands up to the drinks industry. We need a strategy that tackles the enormous damage done by alcohol. Alcohol misuse costs our public healthcare system €793 million annually. This does not include the human cost to families, children or in the workplace. We need a radical reset in Government priorities when it comes to tackling the causes and consequences of the drug and alcohol crisis. The Joint Committee on Drugs Use agreed the need for a comprehensive health-led approach to drug use. This applies to those using drugs, their families and communities. The Government needs to seriously increase funding for drug and alcohol projects to provide supports for families living with addiction and their communities, who are living through a third generation of trauma caused by addiction and violence.

The recent allocation of an extra €65,000 for the drug-related intimidation and violence engagement programme is simply not enough. DRIVE is doing great work but communities are struggling with violence and drug-related intimidation. In the past two weeks in Dublin we have seen increased violent attacks, including arson and firearms being used. Government must invest in preventative work to ensure that we are tackling the causes of community violence by ensuring that DRIVE receives adequate multi-annual budgets rather than piecemeal annual funding.

Women experience addiction differently from men. As a priority, women need access to drug rehabilitation programmes. For too long, rehabilitation programmes have been designed for men and by men. That has to change. I urge the Minister of State to visit projects like SAOL and Jane's Place to listen to women's needs, fund them appropriately and support the services in prisons for women....

[Click here to read the full debate on the Oireachtas website]