Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Members of Seanad Éireann for inviting me to update them on the development of the new national drugs strategy and related policy developments. A health-led strategy recognises drugs as a health issue and it encourages people to avoid, reduce and recover from drug-related harm. It promotes the principle of a right to health for people who use drugs by supporting people to access healthcare and promoting recovery as an initial response. It also seeks to protect and improve public health and well-being by preventing and reducing the harms linked to substance use for individuals, their families and the community.

The Strategic Action Plan 2023-2024 marked a significant milestone in the implementation of the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. It contained 34 actions across the six strategic priorities of strengthening the prevention of drug and alcohol use and the associated harms among children and young people; enhancing access to the delivery of drug and alcohol services in our communities; developing integrated care pathways for high-risk drug users to achieve better health outcomes, and we are very supportive of this and we know we have to deliver as many services as we can; addressing the social consequences of drug use in disadvantaged communities; promoting alternative coercive sanctions for drug-related offences; and strengthening evidence-informed and outcomes-focused practice, services, policies and strategy which we can implement and deliver.

The implementation of the strategy action plan marks the end of the national drugs strategy. The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the strategy and the action plan, which is due to be submitted to the Department in the coming weeks. The evaluation is being conducted by Grant Thornton, which was appointed following a public procurement process. Grant Thornton has consulted stakeholders involved in the oversight of the strategy, including the network of drug and alcohol task forces, civil society organisations, the voluntary drug and alcohol sectors, and CityWide and other community-based drug services.

The focus of the strategy is a health-led approach to drug use. To illustrate this, I will briefly highlight some significant achievements in the previous year. The Department and I believe these have been very positive. We opened the supervised injection facility, SIF, at Merchants Quay in Dublin in late December 2024, under a licence issued by the then Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. Thus, Ireland became the 18th country in the world to have such a facility. The SIF is a partnership between the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive and Merchants Quay Ireland, which manages and delivers the service. The primary purpose of the SIF is the prevention of drug overdose and the reduction of harms associated with injection drug use. The licence for the facility is for a period of 18 months, during which evaluation of its impact will be completed. The evaluation will inform decisions about continuing the facility and the potential for applications to establish SIFs in other areas of the country.

We also opened a new community care facility that provides a broad spectrum of drug and alcohol addiction services along with other health services especially for people who are homeless in Usher's Island in the Liberties, Dublin, in October 2024. It was recently spoken about in the Seanad. The facility is a partnership between the Department of housing, which funded the construction, the Department of Health and the HSE, which fund the operating cost, and Dublin Simon Community, which manages and staffs the facility. A total of 51 beds are in operation, with the capacity to provide 700 episodes of care, including step-up and step-down care with acute hospital residential treatment for drug addiction, treatment for blood-borne viruses and support for people in recovery.

The good news, having visited the facility today, is that the 12 beds to open this year under phase 2 will be opened on Monday. There are now 51 beds which can be occupied and the other 12 beds, which are part of the second phase for this year, will be opened on Monday, 14 July. I am delighted with this. This new facility is a game changer in providing timely access to high-quality healthcare services that address the complex health needs of people who are homeless. It is hoped that in the long term the facility will also contribute to a reduction in premature deaths and enable a pathway out of homelessness. It is giving people in the service, whether in local authorities or other services, guidance and a pathway.

We can also report on major progress in the implementation of the Government's health diversion scheme, whereby people in possession of drugs for personal use will be diverted towards a health response. Alongside the Minister for justice, I have agreed the scheme will commence on an administrative basis, working with An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions. At present they are finalising the operational details and we are waiting for the sign-off. This will be brilliant once we get it over the line. The scheme is in line with the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use for a comprehensive health-led approach with emphasis on drug use. With regard to how we can implement these and work on them, this is planned for a year and after this first year we will then have a look at it. This is a comprehensive health-led response to drug possession.

We have greatly increased the capacity of drugs services to respond to the demand for treatment for problem drug use. In 2024, 13,295 cases sought treatment, an increase of 50% in the number of cases since the national drugs strategy commenced in 2017. It is worrying and something of which the Department and I are very mindful. More than 450 drug and alcohol services are available throughout the country, which can be found through an online services map or through service providers, with a total health expenditure of €160 million. At the same time, the Department of Health has commenced work on preparing the new national drugs strategy. The new strategy will be informed by the evaluation of the existing strategy, the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, the programme for Government, development of the EU drugs strategy action plan and consultation with stakeholders. We will also work with Senators on the drugs committee because all of us are working together to find solutions.

To support the development of the next strategy, the Department has convened a number of in-person consultations with key stakeholders. These will be included as part of it. The priorities for the new strategy will involve the planning and development of the drug service in the HSE health regions and the lived and living experience of people who use drugs and their families. It is very important for the strategy that while we are working with drug users, we also have to be very aware of the families who are very much affected by this. Also of importance are the results of the development of the drugs workforce and drug prevention. More than 250 people have attended consultations, including representatives of the drug and alcohol task forces, drug service providers and civil society organisations. There was also a specific consultation event focused on lived experience, at which peers from several organisations representing people who use drugs were present in the Department of Health offices. This is what it is all about. We have to look at the lived experience. The group provided valuable insight and constructive contributions to the process.

A key input into the new strategy will be report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. The report argues for a comprehensive health-led response to drugs. It contains 36 recommendations on prevention, harm reduction and treatment recovery. At the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Government pledged to carefully consider and respond with urgency to the assembly's recommendation for reform of legislative policy and the operational approach to drug use, and to indicate the timeframe for implementing the recommendations, which it accepts.It is further acknowledged that full implementation of the citizens' assembly recommendations will require a major step-down change in how the State responds to drug use. We note the endorsement of the citizens' assembly recommendations in the interim report of the previous Joint Committee on Drugs Use. The drug committee added a further 49 recommendations in its interim report, which we will consider when drafting the new strategy.

The Government response to the recommendations is being finalised. I look forward to bringing a whole-of-government response to Cabinet and to the Taoiseach for approval. The step toward implementing the recommendations will then be set out in the new national drugs strategy. Officials in the Department of Health have begun drafting the new strategy. To guide this process, I am setting up a steering group which will be established for a limited time. The group will consist of experts and stakeholders whose insight and recommendations will enhance the content of the new strategy to meet the needs and challenge the drug situation. The timeframe for this strategy will be the end of 2025. My aim, and the aim of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and his Department, is to get the first part of the strategy in place by the end of 2025.

The recently published European Drug Report 2025 reveals a drug market that is both resilient and influenced by the development taking place at global level. It is important that we work with our EU counterparts. The continuing health problems presented by the establishment of illicit drugs creates a challenging policy context for the shaping and implementation of an effective response. The scale and complexity of the European drug situation means Ireland and other member states must work together under the framework of the EU drugs strategy action plan that is currently under preparation. Ireland will work to ensure that we are working together in this, particularly as Ireland will hold the EU Presidency in the last six months of 2026, as Senators are aware. That is a huge thing for Ireland.

I look forward to working with Senators. I thank them all. I am delighted to have been invited to the House to speak about this.