Sinn Féin spokesperson on Addiction, Recovery and Wellbeing Thomas Gould TD has welcomed a commitment from Minister for State Frank Feighan to work with him on the issue of addiction rehabilitation assessment fees.

The Minister’s comments came in response to Teachta Gould criticising these as ‘barriers to recovery’. 

Speaking today, Teachta Gould said:

“I have met with a lot of groups engaged in addiction services recently and one issue has cropped up time and time again. People are being left out of pocket for assessment for rehabilitation and detoxification services. 

“In fact, there are five facilities across the state that charge up to €90 100% of the time to people seeking assessment.

“Financial barriers and long wait times are damaging people’s chances of recovery. 

“We need real public access to treatment to ensure that when somebody has put in the hard work, when they have gotten stable enough for treatment, that they are not blocked from accessing these services. 

“People looking to go into recovery should be supported by this state. They should not have to struggle to find the money to support their efforts.

“I have written to Minister Feighan today and hope that we will be able to work together to put an end to these fees. The Minister recognised that we need to remove barriers to recovery.”