It is estimated there may be 10,000 drug addicts in Wales alone

Social Justice Minister Edwina Hart told assembly members she was concerned at the way cash meant to help drug abusers was being spent.

Ms Hart, who is responsible for drug services in Wales, told the assembly's social affairs committee she had heard anecdotal evidence about where the money was going.

She said: "I'm not satisfied we've made sufficient progress in charting where some of the money has been going.

"We have some anecdotal evidence on this which, to be honest, beggars belief about new curtains in hospitals and other things that are emerging from drugs money historically."

She added: "This has got to be stopped, which is why I wanted the audit commission involved."

Ms Hart later issued a statement saying her comments were made in the context of a wide-ranging discussion on substance misuse.

If the minister has spent a year and has not been able to trace where that money's going in the health service I think there's something very wrong Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder

It is estimated there may be 10,000 drug addicts in Wales alone, and those waiting for rehabilitation treatment may be waiting for more than a year to join detox programmes.

Ms Hart admitted in August that Wales needs many more in-patient beds and more detox units, particularly in the south Wales Valleys where it is estimated that on average a drug addict dies every week.

Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder said she was unimpressed with the way Edwina Hart was dealing with the problem.

She said she was appalled by Ms Hart's "flippant throwaway" remark.

"We've got to have a clear audit trail of where that money is going because if we're going to develop a strategy for the whole of Wales we need to know what the baseline is of where we're starting from."

Public money being squandered in this fashion is completely unacceptable Jonathan Morgan, Conservative Health Spokesman

She added: "If the minister has spent a year and has not been able to trace where that money's going in the health service I think there's something very wrong with the accounting system there."

Jonathan Morgan, the Conservative Assembly Health Spokesman said he was astonished that the Assembly's Health Minister Jane Hutt knew nothing about the situation.

"What I find of paramount concern is the Assembly's carelessness with the handling of public funds." he said.

"Public money being squandered in this fashion is completely unacceptable and I will be demanding an explanation from the Health Minister, who seems at present to know nothing about this, at the next Assembly Health Committee meeting."

He added: "We have repeatedly seen grand sounding token gestures of increased expenditure, but when performance is measured, the money simply isn't working."