Drug, alcohol and tobacco policy after Cabinet reshuffle
by Brigid Pike
Following the Cabinet reshuffle announced on 11 July 2014, responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy and for alcohol policy passed to the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD. This means that responsibility for drug and alcohol policy now rests with a senior government minister with a seat at the Cabinet table. Prior to the reshuffle, responsibility for both policy domains was held by a junior minister without a seat in Cabinet, Alex White TD, Minister of State in the Department of Health with responsibility for Primary Care.Upcoming challenges for the new Minister for Health in relation to alcohol and drugs include steering the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill through the Oireachtas, and leading on the preparation of Ireland’s first national substance misuse strategy (including both drugs and alcohol), and on the preparation of Ireland’s contribution to the UN General Assembly Special Session on illicit drugs, both of which are due in 2016. Responsibility for tobacco policy will be shared with the former Minister for Health, James Reilly TD, who has been appointed Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. A key Ministerial task in this policy domain will be steering the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill through the Oireachtas.
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