Drug addicts waiting months for place in detox units due to lack of space
Said In Tullow Been Available St A Service At Farm A Were Not Residential Spaces Across Country For Enough There Big For Ireland Demand Francis’s But Quay Had Detox The The Merchants Spokeswoman
Just under a fifth of referrals made this year to a detox unit operated by Merchants Quay Ireland have been able to secure a place in the facility.
To date, there have been 223 referrals received for the residential unit in Carlow. However, just 42 have so far been treated at the unit.
A spokeswoman for Merchants Quay Ireland said there had been a big demand for the residential detox service at St Francis’s Farm in Tullow but not enough spaces were available across the country.
“In 2023, the MQI residential detox and rehabilitation programmes supported 117 individuals into recovery. However, to give you an idea of the demand, our residential detox unit in Carlow has had 223 referrals so far this year. Out of those, we have only had space to take in 42 people," she added.
"The detox team are presently working with 104 people and their medical teams in the community who hope to access our service. This includes at least weekly calls with the client and follow-ups with their medical teams. All clients assessed by the detox team are key worked by a member of our team before and during their admission.”
There are 10 detox beds in St Francis’s Farm.
According to 2023 figures from the HSE, there were 168 detox spaces across the country — 108 residential, and 60 community-based.
An answer to a parliamentary question in February regarding waiting times for drug treatment services revealed there was a wait of 19 weeks for St Francis’s Farm detox facility, the longest in the country.
This month is International Recovery Month, which Merchants Quay is using to highlight the issue.
One of the former clients of St Francis’s Farm detox programme and afterservices is a Dublin man who developed an addiction after a difficult childhood during which he was sent to an industrial school.
“When I was 10 years old, I was sitting in the garden with my mother waiting on the school bus. A taxi pulled up and two men got out, grabbed me and brought me to an industrial school. I hated my mother then — I blamed her because I got brought to the place and kept in it," he said.
"I drilled into my head that I wasn’t wanted. I was so traumatised from my experiences at the industrial school that I didn’t even last a day in secondary school. I wouldn’t go into class.
“I was trying so hard to be accepted. When I took drugs, I just did it to be cool because everyone else was doing it. The first time I ever smoked heroin, I was sick for the whole day. I walked into a coal shed and I saw two lads doing it, I said ‘What’s that?’
"Even though I was sick all day, it was so nice, I just went back to it. I was injecting for years. I even ended up with hepatitis at one stage.”
He linked up with Merchants Quay in prison and said he was now in charge of his own life.
“I never finished anything in my life until I finished the MQI St Francis Farm programme. I’m learning to feel my feelings, have a voice and boundaries. If it wasn’t for MQI, I’d never know any of this. I’d probably be back in prison.”