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South Dublin County Council is to examine the scope for setting up a safe injection centre for drug users in the area.
At a meeting held on Monday, councillors supported a motion that called on the chief executive of SDCC to engage with the Tallaght and Clondalkin Drugs and Alcohol Task Forces, the HSE addiction services and community drug treatment projects to “explore the setting up of a medically supervised safe injection facility, within our county”.
The motion was proposed by Cllr Mick Duff, who represents the Tallaght Central electoral area.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Duff said the motion aimed to start the conversation about safe injection centres.
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“I am not looking for a location, I am not looking for your approval to build a building, I am looking for your approval and support to ask our chief executive to get the council... to be the lead group in this.”
He said throughout the county there are services and projects engaged in harm reduction, such as needle exchange.
“A safe-injecting centre, medically supervised... would ensure that a person can come in and inject their drug and not be in fear or risk of death.”
He said this conversation happened in Dublin city during the summer when there was a successful appeal against the opening of a safe injection centre on Merchant’s Quay.
Cllr Duff said that citizens of south county Dublin shouldn’t have to rely on city services that haven’t opened yet.
He added that he wasn’t seeking for the centre to be opened in Tallaght or Clondalkin, but a discussion on location can happen at a later date.
Cllr Duff said that crack cocaine use in Tallaght was well-documented by the media during the summer. “It’s not just a boardwalk issue, it’s an issue for our county as well.”