The results of four studies into services for areas worst affected by heroin should be available by the summer, according to the Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, Mr Chris Flood.
Three of the pilot projects, announced last week by the Government as part of the £30 million young people's facilities and services fund, are in Dublin. The fourth is in Togher, Co Cork.
The Dublin project areas are: the north-east inner city; the canal flat complexes of St Michael's House, Dolphin House, St Teresa's Gardens and Fatima Mansions; and Jobstown.
Speaking at the publication of the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) policy document on youth and drugs, Mr Flood said £750,000 earmarked in the Budget would be spent on finding out what was needed in the areas.
The pilot projects would develop a "more focused and better co-ordinated response by the statutory authorities to the needs of the communities".
He denied the £30 million allocation represented a U-turn in the Government's position on funding for youth services. The funding was the result of "deliberations" by the Cabinet sub-committee on social inclusion.
The president of the NYCI, Ms Jillian Hassett, said the announcement had "given an important boost to organisations working against drugs." She said strategies should "build on the experience and expertise of organisations already working in this field" and they should have a strong youth dimension.
The council policy on drugs opposes the legalisation of cannabis. It recommends prevention measures, harm reduction strategies, drugs education and involving youth organisations in anti-drugs initiatives.
Council vice-president Mr Malcolm Byrne said 40 per cent of young people identified drugs as the most important social issue, "ahead of crime, ahead of unemployment".
The chairman of the Ballymun Local Drugs Task Force, Mr Sean O Cionnaith, said governments had tried to ringfence the drug problem in working-class areas. "It's about attempting to tackle a problem which the politicians ignored for years. If we're to be serious about saving people from drug deaths, £30 million is a beginning. But it is only a beginning."
