The Government is to set up a number of pilot schemes to tackle the growing problem of cocaine use.
The Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, Mr Noel Ahern, announced an increase in funding of 18 per cent for drugs initiatives, bringing total funding for 2005 to €30 million.
Mr Ahern said the extra money would be targeted at the local and regional Drugs Task Forces and the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund (YPFSF).
He said this will fund emerging needs in Local Drugs Task Force (LDTF) areas and also a number of pilot projects to specifically tackle cocaine use, among other initiatives.
Mr Ahern said next year's increase in funding comes on the back of years of investment in drugs programmes since 1997, amounting to €190 million in total.
The Minister said a number of large scale community/youth facilities have already been built throughout Dublin and three more such centres are planned for Bray, Clondalkin and Tallaght this year.
But The Labour Party criticised the measures on cocaine use as "too little, too late".
Mr Joe Costello, the party's justice spokesman, said the pilot initiatives announced by the minister represented "a very limited approach to what is becoming a massive problem".
"Cocaine is rapidly replacing heroin as the main hard drug in Ireland but the Government's attitude has been laissez faire at best. These initiatives are too little and too late," he said.
Mr Costello said the Labour Party had always argued that money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau from drug dealers should be channelled into anti-dugs intitiatives.
"The budget of just over €30 million provided to anti-drugs initiatives for 2005 is entirely insufficient to combat the problem, especially in respect of cocaine. Cocaine use among 15-to-34 year olds is above the EU average," he said.
"The mid-term review of the National Drugs Strategy has been protracted and leaderless and the deadline for submissions has been extended a number of times. This is indicative of a lack of coherence and cohesion by the Government in dealing with the drugs menace," Mr Costello said.
He also suggested that the 25-acre equestrian centre seized from convicted drug dealer John Gilligan would make an ideal centre for the rehabilitation and treatment of addicts.
Fine Gael's spokesman on drugs, Mr Damien English, was also critical of the announcement, stating that a more comprehensive long-term plan was required to address the crisis.
"The Government's commitment to addressing the problem of cocaine abuse must be seen as dubious when today's feeble announcement is taken into account. A UN survey last year showed that Ireland had the second highest level of cocaine abuse in Western Europe. Yet, despite increased overall funding for drugs initiatives, the best Minister Noel Ahern can come up with is pilot schemes, which may not even develop into long-term programmes.
"This represents a gross underestimation of the extent of the problem," Mr English added.