THE Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Pat Rabbitte, last night said the drugs problem in some Dublin communities was comparable to TB in the 1950s.
Replying to the drugs debate at the Democratic Left party conference which opened in Dun Laoghaire last night, he said his party was not making any promises about eradicating the problem, but was intent on dealing with the "bush fires out there".
Mr Rabbitte spoke of the advances made since the first report of the Ministerial Task Force on Drugs, of which he is chairman, was published last October. Conflict within affected communities was now being replaced by a new spirit of co-operation. Noting that the £14 million allocated was still being distributed, he responded to criticism from one delegate that no monies had reached her area by saying that only meritorious applications would be approved.
"It is not enough to say that there is a drugs problem in our area - send us a cheque." To applause from delegates, Mr Rabbitte spoke of the outstanding contribution of the Criminal Assets Bureau and how its work had driven many of the drugs god-fathers out of this country. "Long may they stay out," he said.
The Minister pointed to a direct link between deprivation, unemployment and drop-out rates from school and up to 60 per cent of crime and drugs.
Earlier Mr Rabbitte announced a new Government pilot programme which will assist 2,000 18 and 19-year-olds to get jobs. Under the programme an income supplement will be paid to 18 and 19-year-olds who are more than six months unemployed, where they secure full-time jobs.
The In Work Income top-up will be equal to 75 per cent of a young person's entitlement to social welfare in the first year and 50 per cent of a person's entitlement in the second year. Initially, the pilot programme titled The Step Programme, will be confined to local employment service areas in Dublin, Limerick and Cork.
In the education debate, a motion calling for the development of a fully developed "non-denominational, secular, state-funded education system, available in all parts of the country and subject to democratic control," was passed by an overwhelming majority.
Ms Kathleen Lynch TD pointed out that about 3,200 pupils leave school before Junior Certificate, including around 1,000 who leave after primary school. She described this as unacceptable and drew attention to the literacy and numeracy problems which affected such pupils in the work-place and society.
