Funding for an additional 12 beds in the Health and Addiction Care Facility run by Dublin Simon Community on Ushers Island has been confirmed.
It brings the total number of beds available in the facility to 63.
Concern had been raised by the charity in May, that the new residential recovery centre was unable to operate at its full 100-bed capacity due to a lack of funding.
The HSE has confirmed that a 12-bedded health and addiction stabilisation service has opened, in line with plans to develop and expand services at the facility.
Dublin Simon Community has welcomed the news which it has said was made possible through the Government's commitment to invest in the construction of the facility and its operation of services, by agreement between the Department of Housing and the Department of Health in partnership with the charity.
The HSE has said the new service will be "a key enabler" in providing supports to stabilise substance use and harm reduction and will enable "access pathways" to effective interventions such as detox, long-term recovery and housing stability.
The announcement follows a visit by the Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, to Usher’s Island last week.
She expressed thanks to the HSE team working on the project which she said reflected "our commitment to enhancing healthcare services to address the complex health needs of people who are homeless".
The HSE's Regional Executive Officer for the Dublin & Midlands Region Kate Killeen White described it as "a very positive development" for service users across Dublin, Kildare and West Wicklow.
"The Primary Care and Social Inclusion team continue to work closely with Dublin Simon Community to optimise service user pathways, maximise all available resources, and to plan for future expansion of the facility as part of the Estimates process with the Department of Health," she said.
The facility provides tailored clinical pathways through four key services: alcohol and benzodiazepine detox, health and addiction stabilisation, recovery-focused support, and step-up/step-down medical care.
It is staffed by GPs, nurses, and addiction specialists working closely with community and hospital-based services.
Ms Murnane O'Connor added that increasing capacity in addiction treatment service would be "a key focus" in the new National Drugs Strategy.
