Press Release: Thursday 16 January 2025
Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy highlights significant uptake of new supervised injecting facility services
The Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke, has highlighted the clear demand for services in the country’s first Medically Supervised Injecting Facility (MSIF) in its first three weeks of operation.
Since its opening on 22 December 2024 up to 15 January 2025, there have been more than 300 visits by a total of 108 people to the Merchants Quay Ireland facility at Riverbank House in Dublin City Centre. There were 47 unique visits in its first full week of operation, 88 in the second week, and 106 in the third week, illustrating the need for this vital health-led service.
The majority of people accessing the service (84%) were male, and 16% were female, with the majority aged between 25 and 44. Four in five clients (81%) stated that they accessed the service to use heroin. There have been six overdoses in the service, five of which were managed through the administration of oxygen alone, while only one case involved administration of naloxone.
The pilot facility commenced operations following the granting of an 18-month licence by Minister Burke under the Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Act 2017.
The MSIF provides a dedicated safe place for people who inject drugs, prioritising their health and social needs and supporting them to engage with healthcare services.
As well as removing drug use from public spaces and reducing associated litter problems, it ensures that people who inject drugs have access to immediate medical intervention. This minimises the pressure on emergency services including ambulance services and An Garda Síochána, by preventing overdoses or overdose-induced deaths.
Minister Burke said:
“There is a clear demand for a service that meets the complex health needs of a vulnerable group of people. As well as providing medical attention when needed, and enabling access to health and social care services, the MSIF is helping to make the local community safer by removing instances of drug injecting from public spaces.
“We are in the very early stages of this 18-month pilot programme but it is already very encouraging to see how people who require this service are connecting with it.
“Today I’ve had the opportunity to meet with MQI staff at Riverbank House and hear about the very positive engagements with people using the service and I want to warmly congratulate them for their efforts.”
CEO of Merchants Quay Ireland Eddie Mullins said:
“The early uptake by clients in using the MSIF clearly demonstrates the need for a compassionate, health-led response to addiction. This service is not just about providing a safe, medically supervised space for injecting drugs that saves lives; it offers people who are often marginalised in our society a chance to access vital healthcare and social supports.
“At Merchants Quay, we see firsthand the devasting impact of addiction, so we are committed to delivering services that prioritise dignity, care, and safety. We thank Minister Burke and the HSE for their continued support of this vital pilot programme and hope it is the start of a new era of understanding and addressing the needs of vulnerable people in Ireland.”
The Medically Supervised Injection Facility (MSIF), which is supported by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Department of Health, is located at Merchant Quay Ireland’s Riverbank House in Dublin city centre. A licence for its operation has been granted for a period of 18 months, during which its impact will be evaluated.
The primary purpose of a MSIF is to prevent drug overdose among people who inject drugs. It is a harm reduction measure, in keeping with a health-led response to drug use. The rationale for the MSIF model is detailed in the National Drugs Strategy, the EU Drugs Agency and the QUB Rapid Evidence Review. There are currently over 200 such facilities in 17 countries.
The 2025 HSE National Service Plan has prioritised progressing integrated care pathways and harm-reduction responses, including the operation of the Medically Supervised Injecting Facility
The delivery of the MSIF meets a commitment in the Programme for Government and the National Drugs Strategy. It also aligns with a recommendation from the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use to take measures to reduce the barriers to implementing harm-reduction approaches without undue delay.
