Debate contribution: Treatment and Recovery Centre in the North-west

Debate contribution by Miss Nuala McAllister on 4 March 2025.

MLA

Miss Nuala McAllister

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

4 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Treatment and Recovery Centre in the North-west

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4833467

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. I support both amendments and the motion. I thank the proposer of the motion for bringing it forward. I agree with my colleague Danny Donnelly about trauma-informed practice, not just in treating addiction but across all services in Northern Ireland. It is very important. If we took a more trauma-informed approach to the way in which we run our services, a lot of people could be saved from the extreme consequences of poverty, such as addiction, and we could help people earlier in their life. It is really important that we speak to the motion today, given the update from the Minister about the consultation. As I move through my winding-up speech, I will have a few questions for the Minister, which can be answered at a later date. I highlight the prevalence of the data that has been used across the Chamber. Data is very important in taking an evidence-based approach to any services, particularly health services. Economic prosperity was mentioned last week and again earlier today. We highlighted the need to focus on areas of multiple deprivation. If it is true in that respect, it is also true for our health services. The fact that a drug death is three times more likely to occur in a deprived area speaks volumes about where those services should be prioritised.

In the north-west, there are particular situations in which people cannot access services. It is not because transport is difficult to access physically; the services do not exist. One question to the Minister, therefore, is on the regionalisation of our services: will all the barriers be knocked down to ensure that anyone, no matter where they live in Northern Ireland, whether it is in the north-west or in Belfast, will have access to a regional rehabilitation service, particularly a residential one? Will they have community transport? Many Members spoke about family support and how addiction impacts on the whole family. Some people do not have a family support network around them when crisis point is reached and they are no longer able to help themselves. Who will help those people to access services, whether they are in Belfast or not? We need to look at that seriously. A lot of people who get help from the community and voluntary sector are alone, so we need to make sure that any barrier to their accessing treatment is removed. When it comes to collaboration and the commissioning of services, I want to hear more about what is being done with the community and voluntary sector and the impact of that work. Will there be an increase in the workforce in community mental health and community rehabilitation teams? Will there be an increase in the number of beds? I disagree with nothing that Members across the Chamber have said. We can all agree that we need dedicated treatment for every individual in Northern Ireland and that the treatment should depend on their circumstances. Most of all, we need to address the causes of addiction, one of which is poverty. I absolutely agree with the Minister that a whole-Executive approach is needed to address poverty. It needs a Health approach, a Communities approach and a Justice approach. With addiction to drugs in particular, we cannot police our way out of it or leave it up to the justice system. When the police try to take a different approach, they are often criticised by the public, but we cannot arrest our way out of addiction to drugs. The people who sell to addicts and prey on vulnerable people must be targeted as well; we cannot forget them. We must, however, target the reasons why people become addicted in the first place. As I said, I am grateful to the Member who proposed the motion. It is important that we have an opportunity to explore it. I look forward to working with the Minister and hearing about progress on the review and the reform of services across the region. Hopefully, some of the questions can be answered later.

677 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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