Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 3 October 2024
Committee on Drugs Use
A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed)
9:30 am
Mr. Geoffrey Corcoran:
To go back to the question about medically supervised injection, there is an independent evaluation panel that will be run by the Department of Health. One of the main delays related to planning permission, planning appeals and judicial appeals, which is all fine. However, with the evaluation at the end of the 18-month pilot period, we have to lodge another planning application in order to continue. That opens up planning appeals and objections again. Maybe when the Cork one is going forward, the evaluation could be based on the performance and the outcomes for the people who use the facility rather than having to go back through the planning system. It is a more appropriate way to evaluate a programme.