Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to commend the NGOs in homeless services and addiction services for their incredible work in recent months, as well as Dublin City Council and the HSE. Only 63 homeless people in Dublin were diagnosed with Covid-19 and there was one Covid death. I want to salute the front-line staff whose bravery and dedication ensured Dublin outperformed even the best-case scenarios for Covid-19 mortality among homeless and drug-using populations.

Covid is reshaping drug policies around the world. It is amplifying places where punitive policies are in place and it is fast-forwarding positive, more progressive policies in places like Ireland. These include greater provision of housing thanks to a rapid response by Dublin City Council, and the HSE taking decisive action to reduce harm. Waiting times for methadone dropped overnight from 12 to 14 weeks to two to three days. People's medication was delivered directly to them by the Ana Liffey Drug Project and the Chrysalis Community Drug Project and the HSE allowed for retrospective prescriptions of naloxone in overdose situations. All of this has been outlined in a study for the London School of Economics by Dr. Austin O'Carroll, Mr. John Collins and Mr. Tony Duffin of the Ana Liffey Drug Project and I commend them for it.

The new Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, Deputy Feighan, must now secure and protect the changes that have been made. He should remember as he settles into his brief that this experience reiterates the value and the logic of drug policies that are based on harm reduction.