New alcohol treatment facility to be up and running by March

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The HSE has confirmed that a community-based alcohol treatment centre will be up and running by March – nine months after funding for the facility was approved by the Department of Health.

The city has been without an alcohol treatment centre since its former base at Merlin Park was destroyed by an arson attack in 2013.

As revealed by the Galway City Tribune last year, €225,000 had been left unclaimed by the HSE since June 2020 as it failed to secure a suitable location for the centre.

Following enquiries on behalf of city councillor Owen Hanley (Soc Dem), the HSE has stated that it is in the ‘final stages of negotiations with the landlord on agreeing the terms of the lease’ for a new location, adding that this process will be completed by March 2021 at the latest.

Responding to a question from Social Democrats Co-leader Róisín Shorthall, the HSE stated that it anticipated that the service will be in a position to accept clients shortly after the lease is finalised.

“The provision of this service is a top priority for Community Healthcare West and all efforts to ensure that it is up and running in the shortest possible time are being made.”

Cllr Hanley said while questions remained as to why it had taken the HSE so long to use the money allocated by the Department, it was welcome that discussions over a lease were entering the final stages of negotiation.
This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of the story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.