Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I stated, the continuum of care is so important. If there are gaps in services, vulnerable people will fall through those gaps. One of the best decisions the HSE made several years ago was to make Cuan Dara to Keltoi a door-to-door service. Before that, people leaving the detox centre at Cuan Dara may have had to wait six or eight weeks before getting into Keltoi. The HSE closed that gap because, in the gap, people died. People left the Cuan Dara detox centre after doing a detox and may have started using drugs again because they did not have a continuum of care, but did so at the levels they were using before detox. Having been through detox, their tolerance levels were not as high and many people died as a result of overdose. It is so important to get this facility back open. I do not say it lightly but it is a matter of life and death. It is a big gap in the services that are available. I still do not understand why Keltoi, rather than another facility, was chosen to house marginalised people with Covid.

See this speech in context