Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If individuals present to an emergency department, they are treated as an emergency and their injuries or other acute medical illnesses are dealt with. Two thirds of patients who attend emergency departments are discharged and the remaining third are admitted. If they are admitted, I imagine they would receive some sort of referral to the addiction services while they are in hospital but they are probably not referred if they are discharged because that is how an emergency department appropriately works. It would be a matter for the patient's GP or regular doctor to make the necessary referral. The purpose of an emergency department is to deal with the presenting complaint or emergency, while the underlying conditions should be dealt with by the community or admitting doctor.

The budget for the HSE's addiction services has increased slightly this year from €86.122 million to €86.279 million. Funding for the HSE's drugs and alcohol task force projects has also increased slightly this year.

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