One of Dublin's most prominent activists for the homeless says mobile injecting clinics could be the answer to tackling drug abuse on Dublin's streets.

Fr Peter McVerry was responding to calls from the city's Lord Mayor for a new "task force" involving all organisations who work with the homeless or drug addicts.

Fr McVerry says he welcomes the Lord Mayor's comments, but he said the State need to take a new approach, and mobile clinics could be part of the solution.

He said: "In many cities you have mobile injecting clinics where people who use heroin can go with medical personnel. There are no needles hanging around the streets.

"We also need to invest in treatement programmes, we have approximately 35 detox beds in this country for 20,000 heroin users and that's an absolute disgrace."