A local drugs taskforce has called for its confidential anti-drug-dealing phone line to be rolled out on a national basis after it proved a success on a pilot basis in Dublin.
Dial to Stop Drug Dealing was set up by the Blanchardstown Local Drugs Task Force in May to help tackle the drugs problem in the Dublin 15 area and in its first six weeks received 296 calls, some of which helped lead to arrests.
The taskforce's evaluation report on the phone line's first six weeks in operation was launched yesterday. It shows that out of 100 reports sent to the Garda as a result of calls, 67 per cent provided "somewhat useful or very useful" information. Of the reports that were followed up by Blanchardstown Garda station, 17 per cent resulted in arrests with court cases pending.