Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members of the committee and the panel for their kind comments.

Professor Bury's presentation is one of the most impressive presentations on this issue that I have heard in the past number of years. He spoke in stark terms. He repeated one of his sentences in order to ensure that we all understood the magnitude of the situation and how drug overdose has reached epidemic level. He stated twice that In Ireland, more people die from opiate overdose each year than in road accidents.

I agree with much of what has been said by other members of the committee. I also agree with the sentiments expressed by Professor Bury about the day-to-day work done by the people who work on the front line. They save lives and deal in a very inglorious area of volunteerism or their professional life of caring for people who really live on the edge. It has been said that the term "junkie" is often used. It is one of the last derogatory terms that is politically acceptable or acceptable in the media to throw around the place. Even though the word "junkie" is a disgusting term it is deliberately used to undermine anyone who suffers from addiction. Whenever we discuss how an injection facility can save lives and alleviate the suffering of addicts the first question that is always asked is where will it be located. In other words, the debate feeds into the idea that the people who would benefit from a facility are undesirable and a subspecies. The media and others use the term "junkie" in a derogatory manner to underline that message.

Senator Colm Burke mentioned that people have yet to be convinced there is a need for an injection facility. During the many months that the facility was debated the Temple Bar traders never contacted my office when I was the Minister responsible for the drugs strategy. It is only lately that we got a letter from them. The traders are in an excited state and we are happy to debate the matter. Where have they been for the last period?

I ask the delegation to put this matter in a human context. I ask them to describe the visual nature of somebody who has died, and they can tell a story that they are aware of or give an instant that they have handled themselves personally. People die in toilets. People die behind dumpsters. People die in urine soaked stairwells. They die surrounded by blood and faeces and they die all of the time. People do not like to hear that people die on the streets of this city and other cities around the country. I can appreciate Deputy Jonathan O'Brien's desire for a full programme of injection facilities to be rolled out rather than just a pilot programme because his city needs one. I ask the witnesses to explain in human terms the rationale for having a facility.

Professor Bury hit the nail on the head with is presentation. A campaign has been deliberately orchestrated to ensure that everybody is on board. The retailers who have a concern about the drugs paraphernalia have been convinced that a facility will alleviate the problem. I agree that it is unfair to expect Dublin City Council workers to pick up or sweep up this material and the accompanying excrement. A broad umbrella of people have reached the conclusion that a facility is necessary for different reasons. Fundamentally, a facility is not about having cleaner streets but about saving lives. I ask the witnesses to explain in human terms that the facility will save the lives of people whose lives need to be saved. I ask the witnesses to describe in graphic terms what people need to know and I mean that with the best respect in the world for the Temple Bar traders or whoever else opposes the facility. I want them to hear what really happens in the city in which I live and in which many people here live, or in cities around the country. The Chairman has asked for statistics on the number of people whose lives have been saved as a result of the facility. I believe we will reach the point when this programme becomes more than a pilot and, as a result, we will be able to provide statistics in support of such facilities.

Professor Bury made an interesting correlation between opiate overdose and road deaths. It took between 20 or 25 measures to reduce the number of road deaths. An injection facility will not reduce the number of overdoses overnight. As Deputy O'Brien has said, the programme along with possibly 20 or more measures will eventually reduce the number of people who die from an overdose or are addicted in Ireland. A facility is not a panacea but is part of the jigsaw.