The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Niall Collins has said that tackling the "scourge of drug dealing, which inflicts violence and misery on families and communities in rural Ireland", is a top priority for the government.

The Limerick County TD was responding to remarks made by his Fianna Fáil colleague, Brendan Smith, in the Dáíl today.

"As we all know, drug addiction and drug abuse are very complex issues and we need a multifaceted approach that includes heath services rehabilitation as well as the criminal justice system," Smith said.

"I ask the minister to outline any additional measures that will be implemented locally and nationally to deal with what is a growing and very concerning epidemic at present throughout rural and urban Ireland," he added.

According to the Collins, the government has allocated €36 million to youth justice services.

"The government is also fully committed to providing An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to fight crime. This is reflected in the unprecedented allocation of €2.48 billion in budget 2025," Collins said.

"An Garda Síochána continues to implement the enhanced national anti-drugs strategy in Operation Tara, the focus of which is to disrupt, dismantle, and prosecute drug trafficking networks at all levels," he added.

The Minister of State said that tackling rural crime is "not just a job for An Garda Síochána alone".

"It requires a multiagency, multisectoral, and a whole-of-government response. Supporting the work of our national rural safety forum, the Department of Justice first published the Rural Safety Plan 2022-2024," he said.

"That plan has a vision to ensure people in communities in Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, in places of work and in their local environment," he added.

The Department of Justice has outlined five key areas they will focus on to reduce rural crime.

These areas are: community safety; burglary and theft; roads policing; animal crime; and heritage crime.

"We are going to produce a second rural safety plan for 2025 to 2027 later this year and we can speak further about that in due course," the Minister of State concluded.