Doolan welcomes task force money
The announcement on Tuesday, 10 August, of an additional £15 million for drugs task forces in Dublin, Wicklow and Cork has been welcomed by the Dublin Sinn Féin representatives.
Daithí Doolan, the party's representative in the Southeast Inner City, said that the funding will allow over 200 local projects to continue their work. ``However'', he added, ``we also need to ensure that those areas which are currently not organised, and who did not previously receive funding, are supported and encouraged on this occasion.
``What the government also needs to address is the underlying causes of drug addiction, something which has failed to happen up to now. It is not enough to reclaim our areas from the drug barons, we must also rebuild our communities economically, socially and politically.''
Tallaght Councillor Seán Crowe added that the government should reinvest money confiscated from drug dealers by the Criminal Assets Bureau into those communities which have been most devastated by drug abuse.