Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I express my sincere and deepest gratitude to volunteers and workers, especially front-line workers. At a time when the State was in most need, people stood up to be counted. Everyone in this Chamber recognises that and we salute those people for their efforts and respect the work they have done.

In January this year, there were over 650 people waiting for access to residential rehabilitation beds. Waiting times in many facilities have doubled and even tripled with people now waiting four to five months to get into many rehabilitation facilities in the State. What is happening now is that when people are at the crucial stage where they want to make change, are ready for recovery and need a helping hand, it is not available. When they are not getting that support, the reality is that some people slip back into addiction and we lose that chance.

This is happening because facilities were forced to close beds during the Covid-19 crisis due to restrictions. It was also the case that lifesaving facilities such as Keltoi were closed down and still have not reopened. Now that Covid-19 restrictions are easing, can the Minister of State please provide a timeline for the reopening of Keltoi? It is desperately needed.

Something that those in recovery and other experts have raised with me is the need for more publicly run, secular residential facilities. We need to start opening more public addiction treatment beds and facilities. We need to see those beds moved under the remit of HIQA and held to the same standard as the rest of our healthcare services.

Sinn Fein’s alternative budget proposal for addiction services included ten times the funding of the Government’s budget because we recognise that investing in addiction services will save lives and will save the State money in the long run. Part of this plan included replacing those lost beds with public beds. We have an opportunity now. I ask the Minister of State to take the opportunity and run with it.

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