Young people with addiction issues in Tipperary need encouragement and support.
That’s the view of local TD Mattie McGrath who is calling for the vacant positions in the addiction services across the county to be filled immediately, as well as the appointment of more drug support workers.
He says substance abuse is growing within the student population which in turn is leading to a rise in the number of drug dealers in the community and we need start acknowledging the link between criminality and drug taking.
Deputy McGrath told Tipp FM that these young people need to be nurtured which shouldn’t be left to the Gardaí.
“They need to be nurtured and get rehabilitation and counselling services and God knows what else they need, but that can’t be done by the Gardaí so I asked what drug support workers do we have liaising with the Gardaí and unfortunately I found that we’ve very, very little… the CAMHS budget is empty and about 50% of the positions are vacant so we’re not dealing with these young people who are falling through the cracks.”
