Youth Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-21
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Mary Butler (FF), Waterford

I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. She sends her apologies. I thank Deputies Ardagh and Daly for their interest in the prevention of drug use among young people in Ireland and for the opportunity to provide an update to the House on this very important work.
As Deputy Daly will be aware, the Minister of State published the draft national drugs strategy in early February. The successor strategy will seek to further the progress made under the previous drugs strategy and emphasise the importance of effective and evidence-based drug prevention. Significant support is currently being provided for drug prevention. In 2023, a first-of-its-kind funding programme to support evidence-based drug prevention initiatives was launched, providing €1.5 million to date. This funding has supported five programmes and represents a significant step in developing our approach to drug prevention in Ireland.
As Deputy Ardagh will be aware, the first strategic pillar in the draft strategy prioritises prevention. It will seek to protect individuals, children, families and communities from the harmful effects of drug and alcohol use and will contain several actions aimed at preventing the onset of drug use among our citizens, with a particular focus on young people. Upon publication of the finalised strategy, these actions will provide targeted responses to groups that are faced with high levels of risk, such as children living with parental drug use and experiencing hidden harm. Any new initiatives on drug prevention will be considered in the context of the finalised strategy, which will develop a coherent, co-ordinated and quality-based national drug prevention system.
The health and well-being of all citizens is of vital importance and reducing health risk factors for our young people is a priority for this Government. I will speak about Planet Youth in my next contribution.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-21