Results 741-760 of 1,055,831 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Simon Coveney OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Johnny Mythen)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: One death is one death too many. The figures for this year have come down.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: We are not comparing like with like. Other European countries do not have the same mechanism for determining the cause of death. For instance, Scotland was not covered in that report. Even though that report covered 29 countries, only 21 countries actually had figures. One country that was not included was Scotland, where the number of deaths was over 1,200. I am not saying that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: With regard to Merchant's Quay, the target is to have the project opened by mid-December. It will then be under review for 18 months. There will be lessons from the review. It is important this is done to make sure people who are using the facility have access to the service to see what further work can be done with them with regard to helping them with the challenges they have health-wise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The information with regard to the location of the 422 facilities is on a map. With regard to where the shortfall is, I am not sure we have the answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The issue now is the evaluation process and this is what we need to do next. Everyone accepts that drugs are available on every street in every area throughout the country, whether rural or urban. This is a challenge. Some people experiment with drugs, not realising they can get easily addicted. We come across people of all age groups becoming addicted, as Senator Conway has in his area....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The process at Electric Picnic is about dealing with the issue where people have acquired drugs that may be dangerous. The idea is that we have a box where a person can drop in a sample that is analysed. If it is identified as being dangerous, the message is sent out through social media about a particular drug that may be circulating. The idea is to save lives and make sure somebody does...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The samples are given anonymously. The whole idea is to make sure that if there is any dangerous substance being sold or made available, it is identified and the information gets out there for people not to take it. With regard to anything else, there is nothing more we can do at that stage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: This comes under the Department of Education.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: One issue is intimidation. I am sure the Senator has come across it in his constituency. People are being intimidated and money is being paid because a member of the family owes money to a dealer. This is about a co-ordinated approach. As I said, 30 Garda inspectors have been appointed around the country to co-ordinate within each individual region of the Garda force. The idea is to make...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: If they know anyone in their local community, we are talking about training people in that area. We have talked to the gardaí about this. The gardaí are prepared to meet people, not necessarily in their own home but in a place where it is not obvious they are meeting the gardaí, because their biggest challenge is that they are afraid of being seen going into a Garda station...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The issue of dual diagnosis of mental health issues and drug addiction issues is one area where there is a challenge. We need to fast-track it. While some people in mental health services might say this is a drug addiction issue and nothing to do with them, drug addiction services might then say this is a mental health issue and they are getting no support. It is important that we have a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: Housing bodies such as Depaul, whose representatives I have met, are doing a lot of work on that. People have come through rehabilitation and the bodies have provided housing for them. I was in Usher's Island in the past two weeks, where the Simon Community has opened a brand new facility. It has 100 separate rooms with en suite bathroom facilities. When I was there, 51 people were moving...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: Visiting the centres throughout the country certainly has helped me because every place you go you learn something new. You learn about the challenges they are facing and the new changes that have occurred as regards drug use. It is one of the things that is well worth doing. In fairness to the Department officials, they have a direct link not only in getting in information but also in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: The Merchants Quay project, the target date for which is 15 September, and the Usher's Island project for the Simon Community in Dublin are two very good projects. There are also the day facilities. In fairness to the HSE and Cork City Council, my Department had a meeting with them and the Department of housing. Everyone was working together to try to get that project to the next stage....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Colm Burke: If I may, it is important that I thank you as well, but also the staff of the committee, who have worked very hard in making sure all the people the committee needs to bring in for its meetings are brought in. It is not an easy thing to do at times. I thank the staff for all their work over the years I was on the committee. I was on the committee from 2011 before I became a Minister of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation (6 Nov 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I am extremely disappointed to hear the Minister of State read out another waffle from the Department. The Department is currently assessing the options. Just imagine that. I have a document here from December 2022, when the Department promised 12 modular classrooms to deal with the accommodation. In February 2023 the Department of Education changed it and listed five modular classrooms,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation (6 Nov 2024)

James Browne: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to outline the position of the school. The Department of Education continues to provide very significant funding in support of the education of children with special educational needs, which is a priority for this Government, with over a quarter of the entire education budget dedicated to special education in recent...

Estimates for Public Services 2024: Message from Select Committee (6 Nov 2024)

Estimates for Public Services 2024: Message from Select Committee (6 Nov 2024)

Catherine Connolly: The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the following Supplementary Estimates for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2024: Votes 4 to 6, inclusive, 9, 11, 12, 14 and 17 to 19, inclusive.