Minister Catherine Byrne presses on with injecting facilities bill

Drugs minister Catherine Byrne is pressing ahead with legislation to set up injecting facilities, despite concerns raised at an Oireachtas health committee yesterday.

Fine Gael’s Seán Barrett said he had fundamental concerns over the legality of provisions in the Supervised Injecting Facilities Bill 2017.

He said exemptions in the bill to possess and use drugs inside the facilities conflicted with existing laws criminalising the purchase and sale of the same drugs on the street.