Trinity College Dublin has defended a €100,000 research project at the college which pays €30 to students who regularly use ecstasy in return for their participation.
In a statement yesterday, the college said research on the use of drugs such as ecstasy is "vital if we are to understand the health consequences and predisposing factors for such use".
It added: "At no stage in the study will participants be asked to take ecstasy. Concern has been expressed about the appropriateness of providing cash payments to participants. It had already been decided to compensate participants with gift vouchers and book tokens to the value of €30 per participant rather than with cash."
A number of callers to RTÉ radio's Liveline programme yesterday were strongly critical of the initiative, amid fears that it might be seen to glamorise the use of ecstasy.
Others pointed out that students might be encouraged to use ecstasy in order to earn the €30 fee.
A spokeswoman for the Garda Press Office said it had not received any complaints about the matter.