Dr. Eamon Keenan:

There are various harm reduction initiatives. We have very much embraced and are rolling out naloxone provision. Last year, we delivered more than 6,000 doses of naloxone and it was used more than 400 times. We provide that. The supervised injection facility is one of the significant elements of harm reduction. We have been through a long and tortuous process to get it up and running, but we are nearly there. Building has commenced on the supervised injection facility and we expect it to be open by the end of the year. We are addressing many of the issues for significant harm reduction. We got full support from the Departments of Justice and Health on the establishment of all those initiatives.

I also draw the committee's attention to the initiative we are looking at developing with An Garda Síochána. We are looking at doing a pilot training of members of An Garda Síochána in the identification of overdose and the carrying of naloxone to be able to administer it in the street. There is a clear approach by the Departments in supporting the health-led approach. One of the other areas where we could not have done without the support of An Garda Síochána within the confines of the Misuse of Drugs Act is the back-of-house drug testing we are doing at festivals. An Garda Síochána supports that initiative because it sees it as improving the safety of people attending festivals.