Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I wish to draw attention to the amendment and express my dissatisfaction that the amendment does not specifically deal with the area of addiction. One cannot deal properly with mental health issues without dealing with the area of addiction. The Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, criticised the HSE for withdrawing services today. It should be a matter of real concern that there is no connection between the HSE and the Minister of State's Department in respect of these services at a time when we are being told that heroin addiction is on the rise.

Today, I invited to the House a group which has previously met some of the County Kildare Deputies. The group is based in Kildare. It is made up of a fantastic group of people who are all in recovery from addiction. Some of them are back in education having returned after being addicted for a long time. They are keen to ensure that they play a positive role in assisting others, especially in County Kildare. I am referring to the Addiction Services Kildare Users Forum. One of the most revealing things they produced was a map of the services in Kildare. They placed four stars on the map around the county signifying where the services are provided. There were two level 2 doctors and a detox unit in Athy. Most people from Kildare are obliged to travel to Dublin for these services. I realise no community is queueing up to get addiction services within their community and the issue must be handled sensitively but there is a real and practical issue to be addressed. In a county such as Kildare with 209,000 people, including west Wicklow, there are inadequate services at the point where people can easily access them.

One must be very determined to deal with an addiction problem and if it is not made reasonably easy then the opportunity can be lost. For example, today I heard about a couple who must travel every day from Athy to Pearse Street. They take the journey in turns because they are on a methadone programme. That is simply not sustainable. However, they have come forward with some practical proposals which I hope to bring to the Minister. These are small changes which would not be particularly expensive to implement. I hope there will be a positive response to such situations because treatment is not simply a matter of dealing with an addict. One must deal with his or her family and friends and one must also deal with a reduction in health services and crime and prison services. Sometimes it is a matter of putting in place simple things to make it easy for people to deal with addiction and this can have a large influence not only for the individual, but for the community. I was hugely impressed with the group but its members, as volunteers and recovering addicts, want to play a positive role in their community in assisting other people. We have to resource such people. If they are coming forward to do such work we should be going out of our way to assist them.

Some decades ago Tony Gregory outlined, during recessionary times, the terrible problems in the north inner city of Dublin. They have spread because there was not a timely and appropriate response. We can see how the problem has escalated and is much more difficult to contain. When positive things come forward, particularly from people like the group to which I refer, there must be a positive response.

See this speech in context