The important matter I am raising tonight is one which every Member of this House considers to be of huge concern but too often it does not receive the attention it deserves. Today, anyone with an ounce of humanity would have been horrified at the picture which appeared in The Irish Times of a heroin addict whose arms are covered in abscesses because of continuous injecting. It was reported that this man cannot get treatment to help ease his drug habit. We can assume his addiction will accelerate and that his health will suffer more as he waits on the increasing waiting list for drug treatment.
More horrific was the story of a young mother who sat in her livingroom on a winter evening waiting for the onset of cold turkey. In the morning she would go to the post office and collect her social welfare payment, giving her the means to feed her habit for another day. I am not suggesting we should go back to the methadone protocol which was implemented in an attempt to manage our drug rehabilitation services better. However, in implementing this protocol there have been some problems in the effort to comply with the starting dates. Since doctors stopped prescribing methadone to addicts last October, many have been referred to treatment centres and due to the insufficient number of centres, they have had to join waiting lists. This in turn has pushed many people back into the dark and despairing world of heroin abuse.
I am concerned about what is happening to people who are making some inroads in tackling their addiction but are now without any treat ment since the implementation of this protocol. What is happening to those who, rightly or wrongly, were obtaining methadone from a secondary source, perhaps from another addict attending a GP?
Last week in this House the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation gave me assurances that the money allocated to the resourcing of the local drugs task forces would be spent. In spending this money, I would be the first to assert the need to consult with local communities on the establishment of treatment centres. Residents have a right to know the impact a centre would have on their area and it is their right to have an input into how it should be developed. The experience of many communities of treatment centres has been bad. However, some communities have had good experiences and these have come about through direct community input.
I urge the Government, once community endorsement is given for the establishment of a centre, to undertake that work as a matter of urgency. The drug treatment centre in Cork Street is proving to be a success and is operating in a way which respects the wishes of the local community. However, it has yet to secure the full complement of the services planned for it, including counselling and a crèche facility. The money is there and should be released to complete this work.
There are communities throughout this country which continue to be devastated by drugs; death through addiction, children left without parents because of addiction and children born already addicted or infected with the HIV virus are realities which must be faced up to. The people in the most deprived areas carry the burden of our drugs problem and we have the resources to deal with this head on. People who want treatment should not have to wait and I hope action will be taken to ensure waiting is unnecessary.
