Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is the first opportunity I have had to address the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, in the Chamber since her appointment. I congratulate Deputy Byrne on her appointment as Minister of State and hope that her addressing during the term of this Dáil the twin scourges of drug and alcohol abuse will be a success.

There is an urgent need to properly resource the Cavan and Monaghan drug and alcohol awareness service through increased and realistic resourcing and the provision of essential personnel to sustain this most important service, including the appointment of two full-time senior staff members to deal with case management and rehabilitation co-ordination, and a dedicated young person's counsellor who would double as a prevention education officer and an administrative staff member, all of which are essential positions to the current needs of the service. As well as the above, there is a clearly identified need for another counsellor for the adult service on a part-time basis and for a part-time family support worker.

All of the above and more are part of the basic services that already apply in comparable settings in Dublin and elsewhere. Why is it, given the significant heroin addiction problem and other harrowing substance abuse statistics for Cavan and Monaghan, that people there have to beg and to do so facing the real prospect of losing what they have?

The Cavan and Monaghan drug and alcohol service currently has four full-time employees covering two counties in what was the largest geographical constituency in the country. This is the only dedicated substance addiction service across these two Border counties. It deals with approximately 100 people each week. Great praise is due to the two general practitioners who operate the methadone clinic within the service. While the official capacity for a two-GP service is set at around 60, these great doctors, Dr. Maguire and Dr. Halligan, see approximately 75 heroin addicts each week. There are a further 12 known heroin addicts on a waiting list to be seen, many of them waiting for much longer than the three months that applies to the shortest waiting time across their number. There is no needle exchange or harm reduction service in Cavan and Monaghan. The Cavan and Monaghan drug and alcohol service is willing to take on this role if given the go ahead by the HSE. It has been waiting three years for that response.

There is a service level agreement with the HSE to deliver services on its behalf. Additional funding was applied for again last year but no response has issued. Funding has remained static at €213,000 per annum for each of the last three years. The current level of service provision is only possible because of the support of volunteers, community employment participants, Tús workers and student placements. Training is provided but none of these staff is able to stay and are lost to the service when they are arguably able to make a worthwhile contribution. We cannot build on such a human resources dependency. The experience and dedication of the lead players is what keeps this service together. Theirs is an heroic effort. I take this opportunity to acknowledge each of those people.

What price do we pay for our head-in-the-sand approach to such critical services? Untreated drug problems are contributing to the national hospital trolley crisis, over-crowding in our prison system, increases in crime statistics and overloading of our criminal prosecution system, not to mention the agony and misery of the victims of crime. Our problems are not confined to heroin addiction. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and I were members of the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children and as such she will be aware of the two tragic deaths of young people within my community because of herbal high misuse. I appeal to her to look at the needs of the Cavan-Monaghan constituency.

See this speech in context