'Cork can't wait': Policing committee hears renewed calls for supervised injecting facility

CORK City is “suffering as a result of delays in Dublin” when it comes to developing a supervised injecting facility for intravenous drug users, Cork City’s Joint Policing Committee (JPC) has heard.

Renewed calls for the development of such a facility to help save lives were expressed by a number of people in attendance at the meeting.

Joe Kirby, from the Cork Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force (CLDATF), said despite legislation being approved in 2015 to allow for supervised injecting facilities, such a facility still does not exist in the country.

“They’ve been in Europe for a long number of decades, and there is a lot of evidence behind them,” he said. “We are lagging behind as a country in terms of that policy piece.”

Mr Kirby said the establishment of such a facility in Cork should not be dependent on the delivery of Dublin’s proposed centre, which has been stalled by planning challenges.

“The push is for Dublin,” he said. “That’s where the money is allocated to, that’s where the minister wants to see it happen first and an evaluation of that to follow… there have been significant planning issues in Dublin. We feel Cork City is suffering as a result of delays in Dublin, equally Limerick. Absolutely Dublin needs one, we need one.”

Mr Kirby said a mobile supervised injecting facility has been established elsewhere in Europe, which he said could be replicated in Cork.

He added that a working group could be established locally within the city to help progress such a facility for Cork.

“That’s really the next step, and then political pressure, really,” he added.

Independent councillor Thomas Moloney was one of the councillors who expressed support for such a facility.

“Cork can’t wait,” he said.

“We’ve people dying on our streets, we’ve people dying in our communities, and it’s not acceptable.

“There’s a number of us that would be happy to come on a subcommittee or other committee in relation to that, and drive that forward.”

The HSE identifies a supervised injecting facility (SIF) as “a clean, safe, healthcare environment where people can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals”.

Typically, supervised injecting facilities provide people who use drugs with sterile injecting equipment, counselling services before and after drug consumption, emergency response in the event of overdose, and primary medical care.

The aims of such facilities include reducing the number of drug-related overdose deaths, reducing the risks of disease transmission through shared needles, and connecting the most vulnerable and marginalised people who use drugs with relevant drug treatment services, as well as other health and social services.