Ireland’s first supervised drug injection facility, which opened on a temporary basis at Merchant’s Quay just over one year ago, has secured permanent permission from Dublin City Council.
The amenity operated by homeless and addiction charity Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) has been used in excess of 10,000 times by more than 1,000 individuals since it opened on the south Liffey quays in December 2024.
Legislation to allow for the facility was enacted in 2017, but permission to operate the service was granted on a temporary basis only and was due to expire in June of this year.
Last October MQI applied for planning permission to operate the service on a permanent basis. Permission was granted by the council last month, despite it having refused to approve the temporary facility in 2019.
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Users of the facility can inject drugs, obtained elsewhere, using sterile equipment provided by the facility. Nurses are present to provide advice and guidance, including assistance with vein location, but do not administer the drugs. Emergency support and aftercare is provided.
In its application MQI said since opening the centre had “prevented overdose fatalities and reduced emergency service demand”. It had “reduced public injection incidents and drug-related litter”, improved local safety, and connected vulnerable individuals with treatment, healthcare and other social supports.
A stakeholder forum – including business, community, local school representatives, gardaí, fire brigade and a number of other statutory and non-statutory organisations – held regular meetings on the operation of the facility.
Endorsements of the work of the facility from Oliver Bond Residents’ Group, Sporting Liberties, drug user advocacy group Uisce, business group Dublin Town, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive and Dublin Fire Brigade were submitted as part of the application.
When the application for the temporary facility was made in 2018, almost 100 objections were received by the council. In refusing permission, the council said the facility would result in an “overconcentration of social support services” in the area, undermine business and tourism, have an “injurious impact on the local residential community” and “hinder the future regeneration of the area”.
MQI appealed this decision to An Bord Pleanála, which granted permission for the facility in 2019. However, judicial review proceedings were brought by St Audeon’s primary school and the High Court quashed the board’s decision. The board was ordered to reconsider the application and in December 2022 granted permission for the temporary facility, which was not challenged.
Just two third-party submissions were made to the council on the application to make the facility permanent – one from Green Party councillor Michael Pidgeon supporting the application, and one from local resident Patrick Coyne, who opposed it. Mr Coyne said the facility “worsens service overconcentration in an already saturated district” and that any decision on extending its licence should be deferred until “the full 18-month statutory evaluation is completed, independently reviewed, and made publicly available”.
The council’s planning department noted the concerns but said the facility was in an area with a “long-established network of social support services, including homeless and addiction facilities”.
The supervised injection facility “complements these services and addresses a demonstrable need, reducing harm and improving amenity in an area previously affected by public drug use”, it said.
While the original permission “anticipated an 18-month review”, evidence submitted demonstrated that the facility was “operating successfully and delivering significant public health and community benefits”.
Extending permission on a temporary basis would “create uncertainty, risk service disruption, and undermine the continuity required for effective harm reduction”.
Permanent permission “will provide stability, allow the service to consolidate these gains, adapt to evolving needs, and maintain its role as an essential component of the city’s health and social care infrastructure”, the council’s planning department said.
