Addiction Treatment Services
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Maria McCormack (SF), Labour Panel

I welcome that the Minister of State has said that drugs and addiction more broadly is something that affects every family. There is no family across the island of Ireland that is not affected by it. This is why it is so important that we do everything we can. The Minister of State spoke about residential services. Unfortunately, when we live in a county such as Laois we do not have any of this. There is nowhere people can go for residential treatment for any of these services. This is why this modest ask of just three detoxification beds is so important.
I understand that we have only a model 3 hospital; I did not know this is a reason we cannot have the service I am asking for. There is a growing population and we have well over 93,000 people in County Laois. As the Minister of State knows, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise serves counties around all around it. People are on trolleys in the emergency department there every day. We have a psychiatric unit and a maternity unit. We have so much there and yet we cannot provide for the most vulnerable people in our communities who are dealing with addiction.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27