Merchants Quay Ireland has been granted planning permission for Ireland's first supervised drug injection centre.

The charity was refused planning permission by Dublin City Council in July. It then appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála.

The facility will have seven injecting booths and an aftercare area.

It is expected to cater for up to 100 users per day.

Facility will include a number of injecting booths and clinical and aftercare areas

The decision requires Merchants Quay Ireland to relocate its existing Night Café, in an effort to reduce the number of services being provided from one premises.

The charity already provides other drug addiction services at its centre in Dublin.

In a statement, it welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanála for the facility to be built at the Riverbank Centre on Merchant’s Quay.

It said that the facility will allow it to "reach people who are currently isolated and vulnerable, offering them vital healthcare and treatment options.

"With one death every day in Ireland from a drug overdose, this facility will save lives."

Minister for Health Simon Harris has welcomed the decision by An Board Pleanála.

Excellent news! We can now proceed with Ireland's first supervised injection facility and recognise that addiction is an illness. Well done Merchant’s Quay. Time we all get serious about tackling addiction issues in our country @MerchantsQuayIR https://t.co/zRssK2IWe4 — Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) December 24, 2019

CEO Ana Liffey Drug Project Tony Duffin said: "We're going to see a reduction in street based injecting. We're going to see people's lives being saved.

"No one has ever died from an overdose in a supervised injection facility in other jurisdictions across the world.

"So we do have people dying in our streets and public spaces and the people that do go in use the service- this will save their lives."

But Dublin City councillor Cieran Perry said he was disappointed with the decision.

"I think it's wrong to be investing €3m in a facility that will maintain people in addiction as oppose to putting that same type of money into the services into rehabilitation and detoxification services."