Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health
Substance Misuse and its Impact on Communities: Discussion
Ms Grace Hill:
Absolutely. The community drugs services are as professional and as qualified as statutory services at this point, and I am sure the Deputy can appreciate that. There has been huge development in this area in the last 15 years. In fact, it is often now the community sector that is writing the education courses that many people participate in, and I would point to organisations like Urrús in Ballymun. Much of the time, we no longer have to buy in that type of service and the expertise is on the ground within these services. The education level is high. Again, it is a resource issue in terms of empowering people to avail of education. We have an education bursary fund that supports people in recovery to go back and learn. Many of those people choose to give back and to work in that sector.