ANTI-DRUG ABUSE FUND DEADLINE 'TOO TIGHT'

OFFICIALS in charge of a fund set up to tackle drug abuse by young people
have defended it against claims it is excluding the very community groups
it is supposed to help.

Groups hoping to avail of the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund
have complained the deadline for applications is so tight, many of them
will not be able to get submissions together in time.

The IEP30 million fund was announced early this year, but structures were
not put in place until June, and invitations to local community groups to
apply for funding were only issued in recent weeks, and most of them face
deadlines inside the next fortnight.

Earlier this week, a Cork councillor representing groups in that city's
designated task force area, said the deadline, imposed at the height of the
holiday season, meant many groups were not in a position to draw up the
highly-detailed plans the assessment committee required. His comments were
echoed, yesterday, by the head of the Cork Community Development Institute
(CCDI), an umbrella group representing over 60 community and voluntary
groups throughout the city.

CCDI chairman Tom O'Sullivan said groups wanting to avail of the fund
would, in effect, have to have projects prepared and sitting on a shelf,
ready to dust off and submit on the off-chance that such a fund would be
set up. "This is Government money - it's not EU money, so there is no-one
insisting we spend it by a certain time except ourselves, and this is such
a serious issue, it should not be done in a rush," he said.

The fund was also criticised by Tony Geoghegan, director of drugs services
at the Merchants Quay Project in Dublin. He said he was concerned the money
would not get to those who needed it most because task force areas were
drawn along geographical boundaries and did not focus on the individuals
most at risk of getting involved in drugs.

He also said he feared the fund would let existing State agencies and
Government departments off the hook by providing money for projects and
facilities which should be part of the normal range of services provided to
disadvantaged communities.

"We need a more long-term approach. The problem of drug abuse is longer
than the life of this fund and longer than the life of a Government," he
said.

Caoimhin O' Ciarain, secretary to the National Assessment Committee and to
the National Drugs Policy Strategy Group, said it was recognised the
deadline may put groups under pressure, and a provision had been made for
applicants to submit interim proposals which they could add to later.

He also said the criteria for funding projects would ensure they did not
propose services and facilities already provided by, or should be provided
by, existing State agencies or Government departments.

He added a decision would be made once the three-year funding period was up
whether to extend the life of the fund or to bring the projects under the
control of existing State bodies.