Drug centre plans stalled

Plans for Ireland’s first supervised drug injecting centre have hit a stumbling block after Dublin City Council decided it needs planning permission.

The centre is to allow addicts to inject illegal drugs purchased elsewhere under the supervision of a health professional. The HSE had hoped to bypass the usual planning process, as the centre was set to be run as a pilot project for 18 months.

However, the Dublin Business Alliance has objected to the location of the centre and queried whether it needed planning permission. The news comes in the wake of an EU drugs agency report which underlined the effectiveness of such facilities.