Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I am aware of the report of the Health Service Executive working group on residential treatment and rehabilitation. My Department was represented on the working group and I welcome the recommendations therein.

The HSE appointed the group to provide a detailed analysis and overview of known current residential treatment services and to advise on the future residential requirements of those affected by drug and alcohol use. Being focused on residential services, its scope was much narrower than that of the working group on drugs rehabilitation, chaired by my Department. However, it covers all substance abuse, and so includes alcohol which is not part of the current national drugs strategy. The report makes a number of recommendations including the endorsement of the use of the four tier model of care as the framework for the future organisation of alcohol and drug services in Ireland, which involves the need for an appropriate level of service provision to best meet the needs of the individual client, from advice and referral up to specialist expertise to intensive interventions; emphasising the need for protocols to facilitate optimum inter-agency working; recommending the provision of dedicated high quality residential detoxification facilities including the provision of 127 dedicated beds, 50% each for drug and alcohol clients; recognising that detoxification is not an end in itself, a client-centered continuum of care is required to progress people towards recovery; quality assurance of residential services for alcohol and drug users; robust tracking systems to ensure that clients continue to get any support required; and involvement of families, in so far as is feasible in individual cases, in the care plan for recovering drug and alcohol misusers.

These recommendations are in line with those outlined in the report of the working group on drugs rehabilitation. While their implementation is primarily a matter for the HSE, I will support them in any way I can through the co-ordination of the national drugs strategy and I hope that significant progress can be made in that regard.

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