Results 6,861-6,880 of 7,412 for speaker:Neasa Hourigan

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: How does one look at the impacts without looking at the potency? For example, if all of a sudden a drug we have been familiar with for decades changes to the point where it is eliciting health outcomes that were not envisaged, how can that be addressed without considering the potency?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: However, the Department of course cannot regulate potency in any way.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It has no control.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Okay. Moving to the HSE, does that lack of control concern the officials?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: What Ms Queally is describing is, at the end of a process or at the end of the imbibing of a substance, we record and then respond.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I thank Dr. Keenan. That is good to hear.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I will address the issue of supports for people recovering from addiction, so my question is mainly to the witnesses from the HSE and Department of Health. I represent Dublin 1 and 7. Many addiction supports are available while people are in active addiction. Following on, thankfully, we have a Housing First strategy and people are found placements, often in private accommodation....

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I will stop Mr. Doyle there. I will outline the situation as I understand it. There is the Department of Health, where the money starts. That is point A. We could go back to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, but we will start at this point A. Point B, then, is the HSE. The HSE then works with the Department of Housing, Local Government...

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is the HSE tracking how many placements are in each area and if the number is appropriate?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Yes.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: The HSE knows where people are but is not making any judgment call on whether the provision would be appropriate in a given area.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I am aware.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is my characterisation correct that the euro that starts with the Department of Health goes through all those stages before it gets to the service user?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: The HSE goes through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is the Department of Health monitoring how many placements are in each area across every single service provision?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Okay. I know I am way over time-----

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: -----but can I just say one thing? Is Ms McArdle telling me then that the Department of Health has a sense of the situation across all the service providers? Let us take Gardiner Street as an example and say there are 320 of these placements on that street. Would the Department of Health have a sense of that and the kind of social impact such a number of placements is going to have on that...

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: The answer is "No", is it?

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: In certain areas. If everyone ends up in Gardiner Street, that is just luck of the draw.

Committee on Drugs Use: Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health (20 Jun 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: The local community health organisations are telling me they have no control because the money comes and no one is saying this street is over the top.