Cork councillors to visit supervised injection centres in Lisbon on fact-finding mission

Councillors, gardaí, and HSE officials will visit the centres in Portugal to examine options for similar facilities in Cork

The delegation of HSE officials, gardaí, and councillors will inspect facilities that provide a safe way for drug users to inject heroin. Stock picture 

A multi-agency delegation from Cork City is set to visit supervised injection centres in Portugal next month on a fact-finding trip.

The delegation of five city councillors, gardaí, and HSE officials will visit two types of safe injecting facilities — a fixed-site supervised injecting facility and a mobile supervised injecting facility — which operate in Lisbon as part of what the chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, described as ‘a learning site visit’.

A supervised injecting facility is described by the HSE as a healthcare environment where people can inject drugs, which are obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health professionals. They are designed to reduce drug-related overdose deaths, reduce the risks of disease transmission through shared needles, and reduce public health risks such as needle-stick injuries.

They also work to connect drug users with treatment services and other health and social services.

Ms Doherty said the delegation will examine options in relation to the development of similar facilities in Cork City. She said: 

In addition to the site visits and related meetings there will also be an opportunity to examine and learn from the model used by Portugal in relation to substance misuse.

She brought the matter to the attention of Cork City Council on Tuesday to seek approval for a delegation of five city councillors to travel as part of the trip.

The delegation will include the Lord Mayor of Cork, Deidre Forde, and former lord mayor and Fianna Fáil councillor Colm Kelleher who, in July 2021, spoke publicly through the Irish Examiner about his brother, Don’s recovery from heroin addiction, and about the need to start talking about supervised injection rooms and needle exchange programmes as part of the solution to Ireland’s heroin problem.

The Merchants Quay Ireland centre in Dublin which is due to house Ireland's first supervised drug injection facility for an initial period of 18 months. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

He raised the need for a supervised injection facility in Cork several times during his mayoralty, and wrote to the health minister on the need to secure funding for existing addiction services and to help reduce treatment waiting lists.

The other councillors due to travel are Damian Boylan (Fine Gael), the chairman of the city’s joint policing committee, John Sheehan (Fianna Fáil), a GP based in Blackpool, and Thomas Maloney (Independent), a youth worker.

Ms Doherty said the trip will be short and is due to take place in early May.

It is estimated that around 300 people are in treatment for heroin abuse in Cork with another 100 injecting drug users who are not receiving treatment.

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The Cork Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force supports the introduction of a supervised injecting centre in Cork, and potential sites have been identified but it has yet to be delivered.

After a long planning battle, An Bord Pleanála granted planning in January for the country's first medically supervised drug injection facility in Dublin. It will be located in the Merchants Quay Ireland facility in the city centre for an initial period of 18 months.