Question
146. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the total amount spent by her Department on tackling drug-related crime for each of the years 2009 to 2014; the estimated spend in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26481/15]
Answer
Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): The Deputy will appreciate that the problem of drug misuse has significant implications for the criminal justice system and the agencies that work therein.
Services such as the Prison, Courts and Probation Services all deal with drug related matters as part of their core daily services involving costs which would be difficult to quantify. Having said that certain data is collated for EU data collection purposes on an annual basis. Within that framework, details of expenditure by my Department is collated with regard to a range of activities. This includes, for example, funding in areas such as community based addiction projects supported by the Probation Service, Garda Youth Diversion Projects and the criminal justice related costs associated with the Drug Treatment Court and the National Drug Related Deaths Index.
The estimated total costs in this regard for the period 2009-2015 inclusive, are shown in the table appended.
Table 1- Estimated drug related expenditure, Department of Justice & Equality 2009-2015
| Year | Expenditure €m |
| 2009 | €14.801m |
| 2010 | €14.478m |
| 2011 | €18.681m |
| 2012 | €18.580m |
| 2013 | €18.553m |
| 2014 | €18.762m |
| 2015* | €18.928m |