Exasperated staff at the country’s only mother and child detox unit have been told by the Government to apply for lottery funding in a last-ditch effort to keep the unit open.

New laws to combat the street sale of tranquillisers are expected to form part of a government action plan to be published this year.

DRUGS Minister Róisín Shortall has said the suicide of a young man after a drink-fuelled night out highlighted the need to address the problem of cheap alcohol.