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

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 4 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour 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 4833474

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Principal Deputy Speaker. I feared that people would run to the door before I could speak. One of the first things that I will comment on, forbye the seriousness of the issue, is that I was straining a bit to hear what Members were saying. That is a reflection of the fact that we were a little quieter, and that showed agreement. When we are in agreement in the Chamber, the decibel levels go down, not least from me. That is a good indication that Members across the Chamber are of the same opinion. We have in front of us two amendments that are mutually exclusive. Our party has no problem with either. The fact that the Question will be put on them in order means that they will not both be supported, but we would be happy to support both, because we are all pushing in the same direction and coming from the same place in trying to deal with the issue. For many of us, including me, it is not an easy conversation to have. We all have family members who have to deal with addictions and their ramifications, and some of us may have to do that ourselves. As with everybody in our community, if you put 40 Members in a room, quite a number will have had to deal with the issue at first hand. It is important that, when discussing the matter, we do so with compassion and sensitivity, because addiction is not a choice. It is not a weakness. It is an illness, and many people suffer from that illness. If we can take that as a starting point, we can take the next step collectively to address the level of care that such a person requires. I will say that again, because I think that it is a powerful thing: care is needed for that individual. According to the Northern Ireland substance misuse database, almost 4,000 people suffer from an addiction and have presented to services for support. We know that we can probably multiply that — we could double it, treble it or quadruple it — and get the number of people who are actually living in our community with problems. The majority of those people are men, and around half are in the 26-to-39 age bracket with an addiction to drugs. Some have an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Cocaine was reported as the most commonly used drug, and more than half reported the daily use of drugs. Again, that speaks to the scale of the problem. We have come to work — we have been here for two days already — and we will be back to our constituencies and doing Committee work by the end of the week. Five days will have passed. Half the people on that list are living, every day, with the impact of what is happening as a result of their illness. The database gives an indication of where some of the issues are presenting, but it also provides the evidence that is necessary to allow us to respond. Cuan Mhuire sits just outside my South Down constituency. We also have Ward 15 in Downpatrick, which I can see from my living room. Those places have a person-centred approach to care, and their focus is on helping those who suffer from addiction to see the goodness in themselves and to discover a sense of purpose in their life. Since its foundation in 1984, many thousands of people have benefited from Cuan Mhuire's services. The Friends of Ward 15 provides help and support through a community response. That centre is there and is the hub of the support. The community, including family and friends, if they are there, can come in and provide help. That is an example of how such services can ensure that the stigma that is felt by those who are suffering from addiction is removed. No more stigma should be attached to those who are seeking help. We should try to support people who need help, and we should congratulate people who seek help by saying, "Well done. You've stepped up. Here's the support services that will get you further in your journey". Such support should be available across the North. That is why we have considered that today for the north-west and, as I will repeat for Maurice Bradley, for the Causeway Coast and Glens area. We heard that as well. I am never a fan of picking out what individuals said, so I will reflect back what Members said, because there have been excellent contributions. We need to note them. Reference was made in the debate to the high rate of alcohol deaths. When we think of addiction, we think about drugs and often overlook the fact that alcohol causes one of the biggest addictions in our community. The fact that drug deaths are going up speaks to the sense that we need to do something about it. As many Members referenced, deprivation is closely very connected and related to addiction. The level of deprivation that is there speaks to the reason why areas such as the north-west will have higher rates of addiction. There should be a good opportunity there to find the right support services to help people. A number of Members spoke about the various groups that are in the community, such as the Northlands centre. Nobody wants to see a replication of work that is already being done, and nobody wants to take work away from organisations in the voluntary and community sector. It is about how we can try to connect them via a hub to which we can bring people and groups together and say, "If you're going to go out and do that, here's another group that is going to go out and do something different. If nobody is going to do this, we will do it here in this centre". That is why we want to see the development of a centre for the north-west. It was well highlighted that the Programme for Government had no mention of addiction. It contained a list of some of the things that need to be prioritised, but it is worth noting that, while we are having a debate about addiction, there was no reference in it to that. We also had a discussion about the ripple effect of addiction and how family, friends and people who are closest to those affected are also impacted on. Sometimes, it is the family members who feel the most helpless. They can see the person, they have love and concern for the individual, and they can see the harm that is being done, but when they try to find support, they just do not know where to go or where to start. That is very disempowering, and it can be very frustrating. We also talked about mental health and the connectivity, the dual diagnosis, between the two strands of addiction and mental health. That is a point that we continually make. I worry that, for as long as I have been here, we have been making that point, but it seems that nothing is being done about it. Maybe a nice, big, new centre in the north-west, in the Causeway Coast and Glens area, might be able to take on the dual diagnosis and become the cheerleaders and say, "What can we do to try to provide services for matters such as that?". Another striking remark by a number of Members was that the cost of inaction is just huge. I appreciate that it is difficult for those who hold the purse strings to get continual asks for extra services and delivery, but it is also deeply frustrating when you think about how much money it will cost to deal with the ramifications of certain actions, illnesses, conditions and instances, whereas if we just invested the money, we would be able to save so much more money down the line. Maybe the Minister could consider the Shared Island Fund or the new transformation fund. Maybe there are ways that a centre in the north-west would save money in the long run over other services and provisions and, therefore, would be a good idea. The Opposition wanted to have the debate for the north-west. It is part of a jigsaw puzzle of services right across the North, therefore, it would benefit people in the north-west, but it would also assist the overall network of services that are provided for everybody and would be a great addition to the help that we could provide. There is cross-party support for it here. Everybody who has spoken today has been in support of it, so I hope that that can go some way to getting it on an agenda somewhere to keep the idea alive and see if we can deliver for the people of the north-west and, ultimately, deliver for their families, friends, community and the network of service provision and others that are impacted on right across the North.

1,512 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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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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