MINISTER TO INAUGURATE PILOT DRUG COURT TODAY

The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, will today inaugurate the pilot
Drug Court scheme for dealing with minor offenders.

The court, at the Richmond Courthouse in North Brunswick Street, Dublin,
will deal with people from the north inner city. It will provide probation,
health and welfare services. The court will run for 18 months during which
its value will be monitored by independent consultants.

The project has taken more than two years to come into existence and has
involved prolonged discussions between the Departments of Justice and Law
Reform, Health and Children, Education and Science and voluntary agencies.
The idea was first raised in the Programme for Government in 1997 and a
Drug Court Planning Committee was set up in February 1999.

Speaking in the Dail last year, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue,
said the Drug Court marked a major policy initiative in the criminal
justice system and was designed as an alternative measure for dealing with
less serious and non-violent drug offenders.

Drug courts have been in operation in the US and other European
jurisdictions for the past decade.