Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)

With respect, I asked about the facility in Cork. The facility in Dublin has been a success. That is why we want to see one rolled out for Cork. We know from research published by UCC that there are 859 problem drug users in Cork city. Thirty-five people die every single year in my city from problem drug use. This is a crisis, it is urgent and it needs interventions. We cannot wait for pilots and reviews. We need to act now on this. A mobile unit will not be effective. We know from the centre in Dublin that people go in, they spend 15 minutes injecting and then they have aftercare for 30 minutes. You cannot have that in a van moving around a city. What is crucial is the intervention with the person, that 30 minutes afterwards, that time to build a relationship and to provide them with other care or other interventions. That will not be possible with a mobile unit. Eddie Mullins from Merchants Quay Ireland has said that that would be ineffective. We need to listen to the experts. Cork needs a dedicated centre, not a mobile unit.

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