I thank the Deputy for a very important question. As he knows, the independent evaluation of the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, assisted with the expansion of harm reduction in a significant way. Our new drugs strategy will be launched next year, hopefully. That is very important to us. We have found that the harm reduction initiatives were a central component of the health-led approach to drug use, with a focus on reducing the adverse health and social impacts associated with drug use. One significant harm reduction initiative is the establishment of supervised injection facilities. Last year, as the Deputy said, the Department of Health granted a licence to operate Ireland's first supervised injection facility at Merchants Quay Ireland. I do not know whether he has been to see it but I have been out there a few times. It is an absolutely fabulous facility. It opened on 22 December 2024. I am happy to report that to date the facility has assisted over 1,000 individual clients who have made over 7,500 visits. Crucially, there were over 120 successful interventions to prevent a fatal overdose. I have provided additional funding to extend the opening hours to facilitate this, which was important. The HSE is overseeing the evaluation of the 18-month pilot phase of this facility. The evaluation will inform decisions as to whether we continue this facility or look at opening new ones in other areas. I understand the HSE has recently completed its six-month interim evaluation and I will look at that now. I am committed to a health-led response to drug use, including the provision of harm reduction initiatives based on population need. The successor to the national drugs strategy will consider the next steps in delivering a health-led response, including the demand for additional supervised facilities. Importantly, the programme for Government 2025 commits to exploring the establishment of mobile medically supervised injection facilities in areas of need, so we are looking at areas of need. The medical supervised injection facility operated by licence on the 18-month pilot basis, that is, Merchants Quay's own licence, will be thoroughly evaluated to assess this impact. The information will assist in assessing the potential need for the benefit of mobile injection facilities. The existing legislation does not allow for mobile supervised injection facilities as only facilities on fixed premises are specific on this. I will come back to the Deputy with the rest of the answer.

Sentiment score: 0.08

Everything is being assessed. The evaluation of what is happening with drugs around the country is being looked at. As I said at the meeting the other day, we have 610 services around the country. We are very mindful of that and that all have equal access to services. We are assessing every opportunity here, working within the Department, the HSE and, as the Deputy knows, our drugs task forces, which do huge work within our communities. A few months ago, I announced detail of a further €1.89 million for community-based drug services in 2025. That happened with the community service enhancement fund. This funding will improve access to services in underserved communities, promote evidence-based innovation in service design and delivery and enhance services for people who use stimulant drugs. Importantly, for budget 2026, I secured an additional €11 million in reoccurring funding for drugs and inclusion health services. These services are all being looked at through the different areas. There is a lot of work being done. I assure the Deputy that we are looking at everything and making sure we have funding around the country.

Sentiment score: 0.22

Absolutely. All the Deputy's concerns are very important. We are talking about lives, and it is very important that we remember that one life lost is one too many. We have to do what we can to save lives and make sure we work with what we have and the services we have. We have to make sure that we deliver the services we can deliver and that people who want to access them can do so. We also have to work with their families. We have to make sure we have services there to help families. It is a matter of all of us working together. Like the Deputy, I understand that we need to put those services in place. The Deputy spoke about the Cork homeless hub. That is being worked on. As I said at the meeting, there is a commitment from my Department for funding for the homeless hub. I have requested a meeting with the HSE. I hope to meet with it as soon as possible to try to get more information on this. As the Deputy said, a homeless hub would be another really important step forward for Cork. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As he said, it is a matter of services, how we deliver them and how we make sure we save lives. Working together, we need to achieve that. I thank him for his question.

Sentiment score: 0.25