Galway Bay fm newsroom - Funding has been secured for the rollout of a Community-based Alcohol Addiction Treatment Service in Galway.
It follows a long-running campaign to deliver such a service after the former addiction treatment centre in Merlin Park shut down after an arson attack in 2013.
Last month, the HSE confirmed the centre would not reopen however, 225-thousand euro has now been released by the Department of Health to the HSE for the provision of a new community-based service.
The service is expected to cost 470-thousand euro every year, and the initial injection of 225-thousand euro will fund its rollout for the remainder of this year.
It's expected funding for the continuation of the service will then be allocated on a yearly basis.
Chairperson of Addiction Counsellors of Ireland Sean Harty explains how the community-based service will work:
Meanwhile, Galway West TD and Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton who has been campaigning for the service, says the funding is critical:
