Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 October 2024

Committee on Drugs Use

A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Ms Nina Brennan:

I will start and then Ms Foley will talk about the statistics. The 699 figure is the number of people who have gone through the assessment phase and started on that bronze piece. There were 1,644 referrals to the court. In that assessment phase, a number of people did not meet the eligibility or did not make it onto the programme, so that is the 699. It is a very small number of people who have been through the programme. What I was trying to think about yesterday, it certainly has an impact on those who have been through, but it is not a large-scale programme, so it is maybe one tool in the toolbox for the judges - and the individuals - to use it. It is a very small number.