Anti-drugs activists in Dublin will start an intensive campaign today to force the Government to reverse what they say is its U-turn on a commitment to spend £20 million on youth projects in drug-blighted areas.
Campaigners accuse the Government of acting in bad faith by allocating only an initial £1.25 million for the Youth Services Development Fund.
The fund - a key recommendation in the second report of the Ministerial Task Force on Measures to Reduce the Demand for Drugs - was sanctioned by the rainbow coalition's cabinet last May. It committed £20 million from 1998 to 2000, with the corporate sector also invited to make a contribution.
The fund was designed to provide services for young people in disadvantaged areas, offering an alternative to the drug culture.
Anti-drugs workers insist that they received pre-election commitments on the issue from Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. They say the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, pledged to at least match the funding commitment of the previous administration to tackle the State's drugs problem.
But the Minister of State, Mr Chris Flood, has insisted that the £20 million budget was "aspirational". Within the past month he announced a seed grant of £1.25 million for the scheme.
A spokesman for Mr Flood said the Minister was not in a position to say how much money would follow the initial grant. "It's up to Government deliberation," he said.
The chairpersons of the 13 local drugs task forces set up by the ministerial task force on drugs in 1996 - 12 in Dublin and one in Cork - will meet today to plan a campaign to have the £20 million budget reinstated. They are also calling for an urgent meeting with Mr Ahern.
The Dublin City-Wide Drugs Crisis Campaign is organising a demonstration by young people outside the Dail when it resumes on January 28th. It has already co-ordinated letters of protest from community organisations to Mr Ahern and Mr Flood. Its co-ordinator, Ms Anna Quigley, said there was "concern that the current level of funding for the youth fund reflects Fianna Fail's overall position on the drugs issue.
"It appears that they are not as committed to the drugs problem as we would like them to be. Their approach is more directed towards law and order and headline-grabbing. Everybody agrees with going after major drug dealers, but there's no point in doing that unless you do the work on the ground with young people because if you put one drug dealer away another one will come along if there is a demand."
The Inner City Organisations' Network (ICON) said it was "very concerned" about the issue and had already raised it with Mr Ahern.
The Independent TD, Mr Tony Gregory, said the decision "to renege on the £20 million commitment suggests that the Government is not prepared to take the necessary steps to deal with either social exclusion or the drugs crisis that stems from it".
Mr David Connolly, the chairman of the drugs task force in Ballyfermot, said the task forces could not be expected to work in the absence of a firm Government commitment to provide the necessary long-term resources.
Mr Sean O Cionnath, chairman of the Ballymun drugs task force, said local groups were "concerned that the rug has been pulled out from under us and we intend to put it back".
"If we're seriously going to ensure that fewer youths will die from drug-related illnesses, there is a need for serious financial commitment. We're angry that our hopes have been dashed by a sudden announcement and we're not letting the Government get away with it."