Eastern Health Board officials are considering opening a hostel for homeless drug addicts in Dublin. Board officials are examining how to provide accommodation for addicts who have difficulty finding it in the existing hostels.
They believe about 25 "chaotic" addicts will have to be accommodated, either in a purpose-built hostel or a converted building. A special hostel for addicts would be the first such centre in the city and would cater for addicts whose behaviour is volatile and who tend to disrupt life in existing hostels for the homeless.
Officials have examined the operation of hostels for addicts in British cities and have visited a London hostel to assess its effectiveness.
The planning for the new hostel is being directed by Mr Pat McLoughlin, the EHB's programme manager for addiction and social development.
Officials stressed that no decision had been made and that there were many aspects of the project yet to be considered.
The importance of considering a hostel for addicts has grown over the past year, with the increase in the number of homeless drug-abusers in the city.
This is partly due to protests by anti-drug community activists, which have driven many addicts from their neighbourhoods, after which they lose contact with their families and social services. Increased Garda activity in the city centre has also displaced some addicts.
A survey by the Merchants Quay Project in Dublin, which helps addicts to find treatment courses, showed a significant increase in the number of homeless addicts seeking help in recent months.
It also found that more than half were not attending treatment centres. Some confirmed that their use of more serious drugs became a habit only after they started sleeping rough.
EHB officials are concerned that establishing a hostel for addicts in the city may prove difficult, given the level of opposition by residents' groups over the last year to treatment clinics being set up in their areas.
In some parts of the city residents demanded restricted opening hours for the clinics and limits on the numbers of addicts being treated.
The EHB acknowledged that part of the resistance was due to its failure to fully explain its projects to communities, and has promised fuller consultation with residents' groups on any new clinics or drug advice centres.
Officials believe that once a hostel is established for 25 addicts, many more are likely to appear on the doorstep and the project might have to be expanded. The EHB would also attempt to provide a link to treatment services for them. The initiative is separate from the 30 extra emergency places for homeless children announced by the EHB two weeks ago, in response to publicity about the number of such children unable to find accomodation in the city.