Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I call on the Leader to bring the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Feighan, to the Chamber to discuss the national drugs strategy, with particular reference to Covid-19. During the first lockdown, addiction services were not necessarily seen as essential services with the result that many of them had to close their doors. Many residential aftercare services sent home people who were in the middle of their recovery journey because some of these services, for example, the Keltoi rehabilitation unit, were taken over for use as isolation wards. People who were in addiction were sidelined and the HSE's addiction counselling line was closed down.

As well as my role in this House, I also chair the Canals Communities Local Drugs Task Force and I am a director of the SWAN family support organisation in Tallaght. I have also been working closely with Safetynet primary care services with regard to referrals of members of the homeless community and people in direct provision and hostels. Now that these services are beginning to re-engage with people in some of the most vulnerable communities, they do not know how they will continue. There is a real fear in that regard. I ask for a discussion with the Minister of State on the current national drugs strategy and on whether we can add to that strategy in terms of Covid as we move forward.

Safetynet is a brilliant service. There are many amazing doctors and nurses involved. It is about health equity. I congratulate it on a preventative piece of work it did on public health last week when it identified a cluster of Covid cases in a working-class community where a large number of vulnerable people are living on top of each other. Staff arrived with a mobile health unit and swabbed more than 200 people in the complex in question. They were able to catch an outbreak before it spread. This is an example of the preventative public health care that could be provided as part of the national drugs strategy or a community development approach. I would love an opportunity to discuss with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, how we can utilise and fund a resource such as Safetynet to do this preventative work with vulnerable groups.