Written answers
Monday, 11 September 2023
Department of Health
Substance Misuse
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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1742. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on the work of the HSE-led initiative to reduce the health-related harms from cocaine and ‘crack’ cocaine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38340/23]
Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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In June 2023, I announced increased funding of €500,000 for cocaine and crack cocaine services. This funding will expand the provision of cocaine services to all areas.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has now advised that submissions from CHO 1, CHO 2, CHO 5, CHO 6, CHO 7, CHO 8 and CHO 9 were successful. Further details of the locations and host agencies of the successful applications are below.
| CHO area | Location/host agency |
|---|---|
| CHO 1 | CHO 1 Addiction Services/Across CHO1 |
| CHO 2 | Western Region Drug and Alcohol Task Force (WRDATF) in conjunction with the HSE Community Healthcare West Drugs Service (CHWDS) |
| CHO 5 | Cornmarket Project |
| CHO 6 | Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Outreach Project (DROP) |
| CHO 7 | Community Addiction Response Programme (CARP), Jobstown Assisting Drug Dependency (JADD) Project, South Inner City Drug and Alcohol Task Force, Coolmine Therapeutic Community and partners |
| CHO 8 | CHO 8 Addiction Services/Section 39 partners |
| CHO 9 | Dublin North City and County (across HSE Addiction Services and several Section 39 agencies) |
This new funding will build on the cocaine-specific services that were funded last year with €850,000 being provided for four Community Healthcare Organisations (CHO) areas to deliver community-based responses, which included specific training for staff as well as supports to empower communities to tackle this issue.
Enhancing access to, and the delivery of, drug and alcohol services in the community is a strategic priority under the national drugs strategy. It is vital that services are available to those who need them.
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