20 November 2025
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice
Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice has urged the Government to immediately begin planning for a supervised injection facility in Cork. Raising the issue in the Dáil today, Deputy Rice asked the Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, to act without delay.
Rice, who represents the Cork South-Central constituency said:
“Last month, I asked the Minister about a supervised injection facility for Cork, and was told that no new safe injection facilities would be considered until after the 18-month pilot in Dublin was completed, this pilot won’t be completed until the middle of next year.
“A recent UCC study estimates that there are 859 problem drug users in Cork City. On average 35 people are dying from problem drug use in Cork City every year. Cork cannot wait for pilot schemes and reports. People are dying in our city because the proper supports are not in place.
“I have serious concerns about the Minister’s suggestion that a mobile unit could be deployed in Cork, there is certainly a place for mobile units, but as the second largest city in Ireland, Cork needs a dedicated centre. Eddie Mullins, CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland, recently told The Echo that a mobile unit would be “quite ineffective.” A centre provides a place in which aftercare is provided and people are monitored, this simply cannot be done in a van. A mobile unit is not sufficient for Cork
“Moreover, a prime location for a supervised centre has already been identified – the proposed integrated inclusion health hub for homeless people in Cork City. Co-locating a supervised injection facility with other inclusive healthcare services should be the objective of our health services. Work on that hub must begin now so that the design and planning phases can incorporate this essential service. If the Minister continues to dither on a decision for Cork, this opportunity will be lost.
“A safe injection facility would reduce drug use on the streets and in the parks. It would also decrease drug based litter and the presence of discarded needles in our communities.
“While repeated governments’ drug policies have failed, the safe injection facility in Dublin has been a huge success. Eddlie Mullins has said that there is “no doubt that countless lives have been saved”. Cork urgently needs a similar facility. This cannot wait and I will continue to advocate for this facility and more generally a health based approach to drug policy in this country.”