Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) is a national voluntary agency providing services for homeless people and those who use drugs. There are 27 MQI locations in 14 counties in the Republic of Ireland (see Figure 1). MQI aims to offer accessible, high-quality, and effective services to people dealing with homelessness and addiction to meet their complex needs in a non-judgemental and compassionate way. This article highlights services provided by MQI to people who used drugs in Ireland in 2024.1

Harm reduction services

The aim of harm reduction is to minimise the risks stemming from sharing drug paraphernalia. In 2024, a total of 2,956 unique clients were provided with 22,896 health-led, harm reduction interventions, including needle exchange, in MQI’s Riverbank Centre. A total of 433 safer injection training sessions were provided for clients, with the aim of reducing the physical harm caused by unsafe practices. In addition, 139 clients were trained in the use of the overdose reversal medicine naloxone.

Community detoxification and opioid substitution therapy

In 2023, MQI increased from one to three the number of addiction case workers in the Riverbank Centre. Addiction case workers work closely with the mental health team to provide a dual diagnosis support structure for clients facing both addiction and mental health problems. The addiction team carried out 2,670 addiction interventions with clients in 2024, ranging from offering support to clients on opioid substitution therapy (OST), to ensuring robust care planning, to supporting clients through community detoxification. This figure represented a 55% increase on 2023, with 1,197 addiction interventions provided that year.

Community engagement

A Community Engagement Team operates in the neighbourhood around the Riverbank Centre, Dublin in order to strengthen relationships with the local community and stakeholders, and proactively engage with clients and people sleeping rough in the area. The team collects discarded drug paraphernalia and proactively engage with people who use drugs or are rough sleeping in the local area, supporting them to access services. In 2024, the team carried out 751 patrols, and engaged with 504 residents and local businesses while collecting 2,289 needles and 748 crack pipes.

Midlands services

Drug and Alcohol Treatment Supports

MQI’s Midlands Drug and Alcohol Treatment Supports (MDATS) team provides a community-based drug and alcohol treatment support service for individuals aged over 18 years, and their families, in the Midlands area (counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois, and Offaly). Services provided include an outreach-based crisis support service, mobile harm reduction, needle and syringe exchange, rehabilitation and aftercare support, as well as support for families affected by substance use. In 2024, the MDATS team supported 603 individuals via 4,447 interventions. A total of 88 new clients were referred to the family support specialist, representing an increase of 20% on the previous year.

Figure 1: MQI locations in the Republic of Ireland

Source: Merchants Quay Ireland Annual Review 2024, p. 40. The 14 counties are Dublin, Wicklow, Carlow, Cork, Limerick, Offaly, Westmeath, Laois, Louth, Longford, Roscommon, Cavan, Monaghan, and Kildare.

Recovery services

St Francis Farm residential detoxification and rehabilitation

Located in Tullow, Co Carlow, the St Francis Farm (SFF) Detoxification Unit offers 24-hour medically supervised residential detoxification and individually tailored treatment plans for men and women aged over 18 years. The purpose-built detoxification unit can accommodate up to 10 residents at any one time. In 2024, there were 318 referrals to the detoxification unit, which was similar to the number recorded in 2023. Overall, during 2024, there were 54 admissions to the detoxification unit, which again represented an increase from 2023 of 10%. These admissions comprised a combination of clients detoxifying from the following substances: methadone and benzodiazepine, methadone only, benzodiazepines only, and suboxone. The report noted that completion rates from the detoxification unit were extremely strong in 2024, at 100% (41 clients). Out of this group, 27 participants progressed to the SFF rehabilitation facility.

The rehabilitation programme offers one-to-one support and care planning, group work, self-esteem seminars, assertiveness training, anger management, art work and relapse prevention training. Service users also receive education in first aid, overdose prevention, life skills, and budgeting. There were 164 referrals into the rehabilitation programme during 2024 that met the programme criteria. Overall, there were 48 admissions to the rehabilitation unit, with an overall bed occupancy rate of 81% during the year, up from 77% in 2023.

Prison-based services

Addiction Counselling Service and Mountjoy Drug Treatment Programme

MQI, in partnership with the Irish Prison Service, delivers a national prison-based Addiction Counselling Service, aimed at prisoners with drug and alcohol problems, in 11 Irish prisons. This service provides structured assessments, one-to-one counselling, therapeutic group work, and multidisciplinary care, in addition to release-planning interventions with clearly defined treatment plans and goals. Services offered include:

• Brief interventions
• Motivational interviewing and motivational enhancement therapy
• A 12-step facilitation programme
• Relapse prevention and overdose reduction
• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Harm reduction approaches
• Individual care planning and release planning

In 2024, counselling supports were provided to 1,283 people and these individuals were provided with a total of 15,364 interventions.

Medically supervised injecting facility

Following a tendering process, MQI was selected by the HSE as the preferred provider to operate Ireland’s first medically supervised injecting facility. Located in the Riverbank Centre on Merchant’s Quay in Dublin, where other healthcare and harm reduction services are currently provided, the facility opened in December 2024, and was delivered on time and within budget.

1    Merchants Quay Ireland (2025) Merchants Quay Ireland Annual Review 2024. Dublin: Merchants Quay Ireland. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/44089/