78. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if work is being carried out in her Department to plan for a medically supervised injection centre in Cork; if any such work will be carried out in advance of the findings of the 18-month pilot phase of the supervised injection facility in Dublin city centre; if any potential sites in Cork have been identified; if consideration is only being given to mobile supervised injection facilities outside of Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65000/25]

Sentiment score: 0.01

My question is about safe injection facilities. Last month I asked a parliamentary question about establishing a safe injection facility in Cork city. I was told it would not be considered until the 18-month pilot in Dublin was concluded. For the one in Dublin, it took nine years between Cabinet approval and setting it up. We cannot have the same level of delay in Cork city. We need a health-led approach to drugs and we need to start considering and planning a safe injection facility for Cork city. Failure to act here will cost lives.

Sentiment score: 0.14

With respect, I asked about the facility in Cork. The facility in Dublin has been a success. That is why we want to see one rolled out for Cork. We know from research published by UCC that there are 859 problem drug users in Cork city. Thirty-five people die every single year in my city from problem drug use. This is a crisis, it is urgent and it needs interventions. We cannot wait for pilots and reviews. We need to act now on this. A mobile unit will not be effective. We know from the centre in Dublin that people go in, they spend 15 minutes injecting and then they have aftercare for 30 minutes. You cannot have that in a van moving around a city. What is crucial is the intervention with the person, that 30 minutes afterwards, that time to build a relationship and to provide them with other care or other interventions. That will not be possible with a mobile unit. Eddie Mullins from Merchants Quay Ireland has said that that would be ineffective. We need to listen to the experts. Cork needs a dedicated centre, not a mobile unit.

Sentiment score: -0.01

Yesterday at the committee, we talked about the integrated health hub for homeless people in Cork city. This hub needs to be established and we need the capital investment for it. This is the prime location to have a safe injection facility in Cork city. What we need here now is not to miss an opportunity. We are establishing a new centre there. We can co-locate these services but the Department needs to do the planning and design now and needs to get this right. We need to think beyond just injection. Right across Europe, we have drug consumption rooms. Crack cocaine is on the increase. I met Cork Simon earlier this week and they said that in Cork city lots of people are smoking crack cocaine. What we need, therefore, is an expansion of the legislation to also include safe drug consumption and for the facility in Cork to be prepared for that, with ventilation and all the requirements around that. I do not think the required planning is going ahead. I want to see change to the legislation, I want to see a commitment to Cork, I want to see investment, I want that homeless hub opened and I want a sense of urgency around here. This is costing people's lives in my city every single year. It is not good enough.

Sentiment score: 0.14