Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To allay any fear Senators may have, particularly about the legislation and the need for consultation, I have said from day one that no service can be provided in any community unless the wider community takes part in facilitating it.It is our intention when the Bill is enacted to have an open conversation with the community in which the service will be provided. I do not know where that will be as of now because that decision is ahead of us.

When I first came to this Chamber a few months ago, I felt that I was a part of a relay team and had taken the baton from the then Minister, Senator Ó Ríordáin. The race is only beginning, this might be the first hurdle but there are many to come. I hope with the co-operation of local people and public representatives in the community in which the facility will be located, there will be genuine support for this service and that we may be able to cross the line eventually.

Senator Ó Ríordáin is correct to state it is all about saving lives and helping people who cannot help themselves - chronic users and those predisposed to addiction. It is only with a service like this we may be able to find out the numbers injecting openly on a daily basis. Senator Colm Burke referred to a wraparound service. There is no point in having a place where people will come and be supervised while injecting if we do not have services that they can avail of if they wish to. They may not, but if they do, at least the services should be there. It is very important that whoever facilitates the running of the supervised injecting facility must meet the criteria as well.

Senator Kelleher articulated what I feel inside, namely, it is about decency, humanity and above all about treating people as human beings. In all walks of life, whether one comes from very rich, very poor or someplace in the middle, one is a human being and deserves respect. For whatever reason people lose their way and find themselves with an addiction, whether alcohol, drugs, gambling or any other addiction. There is an onus on society to care for them. That is the reason I really believe it so important that the public identify with the first part of this Bill and respect it for what it is. It is about health care and helping those who have not been able to help themselves. I really believe if we get this right the attitude of those who are addicted to drugs, gambling or anything else may be seen in a more humane light.

I would like to thank all who supported the Bill and have contributed to the debate both in the Seanad and in the Dáil in the past number of months. I acknowledge their compassion, vision and knowledge, but most of all their humanity and their ability to look at people in a different light, particularly people with a chronic illness, because addiction is a chronic illness. Senator Devine mentioned the people and families she met around the country through the public consultation process. I too have met many families, young and old, people who have been in addiction for far too long and still fighting that challenge. I met young people who have recovered, people who have relapsed but most of all I met people who have gone through the different stages and find that they are now in a better place and are in recovery. They are making a real effort to bring light back into their life. We should encourage people who are in addiction services to continue on their journey to the light.

I met families who have lost loved ones and grandparents who have been left to raise grandchildren because their children have died of addictions. I think we owe them a debt of gratitude because there are so many families who have been left bereft by addiction. Parents and grandparents have to pick up the pieces and we owe them a wealth of support and facilities.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and those who were in the Chair previously. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating the passage of the Bill through both Houses. I thank all the staff who have been very supportive of why I am in this Chamber. I thank the recording and reporting staff, the ushers and the Seanad staff for the services they have been providing during the passage of the Bill.

I thank the staff of the Departments and agencies who have worked with the Department of Health in the formulation of the Bill, the Department of Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána and the HSE. I acknowledge the assistance and support of my predecessors, the then Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Varadkar and Senator Ó Ríordáin, for their commitment to this issue. I thank those at Ana Liffey and others who have campaigned for many years and have been tireless advocates of the benefits that a supervised injecting centre can have for society.

I thank the staff and the health service in Denmark for facilitating my visit to the supervised injecting facility in Copenhagen and Dr. Marianne Jauncey of the medical supervised injecting centre in Sydney. I met Dr. Jauncey on a number of occasions and had long conversations with her on the service in Sydney. I want to thank the staff in the controlled drugs unit in the Department of Health, in particular, Mr. Eugene Lennon, Mr. Eamonn Quinn, Mr. Hugh Drumm as well as the drugs policy unit.

I want to especially thank Dr. Eamonn Keane, the clinical lead in addiction service. He has done major work around identifying the prevalence of drug addiction and deaths in the city. I also thank Ms Una Keating from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting the Bill. Sometimes a Bill can be very technical but with the assistance of all these people I think the Bill has been manageable both to read and to understand.

When I spoke in the Dáil on a number of occasions, I ended with a poem and I will quote two stanzas which I think are significant to what is happening today and above all to people who find themselves in the grip of addiction:

What was it that made me

Lose my reason

And drew me into these seasons

Of self-affliction

Habitual addiction?

......

Once filled by painful pride

May You now hide

Restoring hope

Opening doors

To life anew

I believe those words are very important in respect of the service that we will provide into the future for people who inject on a daily basis, to give them hope, to open doors but above all to give them the opportunity to come into a service that sees them as human beings and will help them in their addiction and on their journey to recovery.

I am delighted to be in this Chamber and am delighted that Senators Ó Ríordáin and Ruane are in the Chamber. I thank them for their support and in particular for their understanding and knowledge of addiction and addiction services.