Home > Drogheda implementation plan: 1st biannual progress report January - June 2022.

Ireland. Department of Justice. (2022) Drogheda implementation plan: 1st biannual progress report January - June 2022. Dublin: Department of Justice.

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The Drogheda Scoping Exercise was commissioned by the Minister for Justice in 2020 in response to rising concerns regarding crime and fear of crime in Drogheda. The report, entitled ‘Drogheda: Creating a Bridge to a Better Future’, was completed by Mr. Vivian Geiran, former director of the Probation Service, and published in January 2021. The report explored the challenges presenting in the Drogheda catchment area, in addition to local strengths and resources. It also identified measures that could support community safety and chart a path to improved community wellbeing in and around Drogheda.

P.15 - 23 Drug use

3.1 The Red Door project should receive urgent additional funding for the provision of drugs outreach work (as a particular priority), counselling, family support, client progression pathways, Court-related and prisoner support and additional harm reduction services in the Drogheda area. Specifically, €150,000 additional for a full year, should be allocated to the Red Door, for provision of these additional service.

3.2 Explore the possibility of utilising the Red Door facility as more of a ‘one-stop-shop’ for drug treatment and related services.

3.3 Review the State funding (approximately €7,500 p.a.) provided to the Family Addiction Network (FASN) – providing family support, especially in the context of drug-related intimidation work and wider family support for addiction-related issues.

3.4 Commission/carry out an urgent review of the organisation of drugs (statutory and community and voluntary) services in the Drogheda area, similar in focus – but perhaps on a smaller scale – to the Service Review of the Dundalk Addiction Services (2015) carried out by the HSE, with a view to ensuring improved effectiveness and efficiency as a matter of urgency.

3.5 Reinstate/continue the local Drug Court, with appropriate funding and other resourcing and formally evaluate its operation over a period of say one to two years, before deciding on its longer-term future.

3.6 Agencies working in the substance use field in Drogheda should look at practical ways of improving interagency cooperation, including the identification and implementation of appropriate gateways to treatment and progression routes for service users, as well as reducing or eliminating overlaps and duplication, providing joint (cross-agency) training, developing shared language and even greater cooperation on assessment and intervention methods.

3.7 Ensure full implementation of all appropriate harm reduction measures, as mandated by the National Drugs Strategy, including Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP) and Naloxone, in Drogheda

3.8 Explore and implement the most appropriate way of ensuring a best-practice response to drug using clients with identified dual (drugs and mental health issues) diagnosis. This could include interagency co-location of staff and joint training

3.9 Provide further interagency training workshops on responding to drug-related intimidation for relevant staff in statutory agencies as well as those in the community and voluntary sector.

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