Results 1,061-1,080 of 6,055 for speaker:Frank Feighan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: As soon as restrictions are lifted I believe we can discuss it again. This is a matter for the Taoiseach’s Department and we have written to his Department on a number of occasions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: We are liaising with the Taoiseach’s Department on this but Covid-19 has effectively stymied much of the preparation for a citizens’ assembly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: There are different aspects to how various groups and different people can come into various initiatives.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: No, they are part of the process. I might bring in my colleague, Mr. Walsh, to assist with the answer to this question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: Again, it is a new way of bringing various areas of expertise into the national oversight committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: Before this, people were just appointed but now there are different strands in respect of getting involved. I am meeting with the nurses and I hope it will be resolved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: They have not been excluded yet. All I will say is that I very much value their expertise. I would hope that in the coming days we can meet. I would hope that they would be included in the national oversight committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I think there was a breakdown in communication and I would hope that would have been resolved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: Once I meet with them, I have that facility, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I would certainly think it is, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I will bring in Dr. Keenan, the HSE lead in addiction services. He might be able to clarify that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: That is an interesting question. There were 1,000 clients who were given access to opiate substitution treatments in 2020 and 2021. This is under the Covid-19 contingency plan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I will ask Dr. Keenan to articulate this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: We are committed to working with people on their journey to recovery. I will bring in Dr. Keenan to articulate exactly his views as clinical lead in this area.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: If I may just clarify, I think I said there was 1,000 extra put on OST during the Covid pandemic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I am going to bring in Mr. Walsh or Dr. Keenan on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: There are 24 task forces. There will always be one or two issues. This is an issue we need to resolve. When I was brought into the Department first, we engaged with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We have had good collaboration with that Department. The Deputy has a point. There needs to be much more collaboration between the Department of Health and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I would think so. A lot of that is in different detail. As I said, the first collaboration was between the Department of Health and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. You can see what happened with the wrap-around services. We were able to provide services to people who needed housing and who used drugs. It was a huge success. We need a lot more collaboration and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: This is part of strategic priority 4. We are committed to a partnership approach across Departments and agencies and to tackling effectively the prevalence of poor health and social problems. The Deputy's question has been very pertinent. I hope a lot more collaboration between various Departments will happen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Frank Feighan: I thank the Deputy. The national drugs strategy - Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery - is the way forward. We established a working group in December 2017 to consider alternative approaches. It examined the option of decriminalising drugs and did not deem it an appropriate option in the Irish context due to legal difficulties and the fact that the group was very concerned it could lead to...