Ireland's first medically supervised injection facility (MISF) will open in Dublin by the end of this year after  "a long and torturous process", the Oireachtas Drugs Use Committee has heard.

The MSIF is the first of its kind in Ireland and is set to be located at Merchants Quay Ireland in Dublin city centre.

Due to planning setbacks, the centre, which was meant to open this September, is now expected to open later in the year.

The facility was first brought to cabinet nearly a decade ago, in 2015, by the former minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who was responsible for the National Drugs Strategy. However, the legislation was enabled by delays and objections, including an objection from a local primary school. Permission was officially granted in 2022, and construction work on the site began earlier this month.

MFIS act as centres where people who use drugs (PWUD) can safely inject drugs that are obtained from outside of the facility under the supervision and help of a nurse. Other countries, notably Canada, have adopted MSFI facilities, and they have proven to reduce drug-related fatalities and also reduce the risk of disease transmission through shared needles.

The facility will open for an 18-month trial, initially for around 7 hours a day, every day of the week.

Professor Eamon Keenan, the HSE's National Clinical Lead on Addiction Services, said the facility's opening is one of the most significant harm reduction measures to be implemented in the coming months.

"We've been through a process to get that up and running, and that's been a long and torturous process, but we're nearly there," he explained today.

"The building has commenced at the supervised injecting facility, and that's expected to be open by the end of the year," Keenan said.

In addition to the facility's announcement today, a recently formed Oireachtas committee that will examine Ireland's response to drugs is holding its second meeting today.

The committee was set up to examine the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly (CA) on drug use, which said the State should take a health-led policy response to PWUD.

Among the committee's 36 recommendations is a proposal that PWUD should be referred to health and addiction services where appropriate rather than face criminal action.