Suspected spiking incidents should be treated as crimes and ‘investigated promptly’ say Wexford councillors

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Wexford People25 May 2026

Suspected spiking incidents should be treated as crimes by gardaí with toxicology testing provided for victims and their families when specifically requested. That’s according to Wexford’s Fianna Fáil councillors who have submitted a motion to both Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan calling for more uniformity in how suspected spiking incidents are handled by gardaí.

Generally administered either by slipping drugs into someone’s drink or by discretely pricking them with a needle in a crowded space, spiking is described by the HSE as when “someone gives you drugs or alcohol without you knowing or agreeing to it”.

In many instances victims are rendered incapicitated or unconscious as a result of being spiked and are unable to fend for themselves until the drugs leave their system.

At the May meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC) Councillors Garry Laffan, John Fleming, Barbara Anne Murphy, Pip Breen, Lisa McDonald, Donal Kenny, Aidan Browne, and Joe Sullivan called on Ministers Carroll MacNeill and O’Callaghan to detail the current protocols in place for when a patient presents at an emergency department and reports they were spiked.

They asked that the ministers explain “the rationale for the absence of toxicology testing in such cases, even when specifically requested by patients or their families” and that measures be introduced to ensure timely Garda statements and “the preservation of evidence where a victim is incapacitated”.

Lastly, they requested that both ministers commit to “establishing a clear national pathway across hospitals and Garda stations to ensure suspected spiking incidents are treated as crimes, investigated promptly, and supported by appropriate clinical and policing protocols.”

Having previously detailed her own experience of being spiked during a night out in Wexford town, Sinn Féin councillor Aoife Rose O’Brien submitted a separate motion in which she called upon Minister O’Callaghan to “immediately enact the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023”

First proposed in May 2023, the Spiking Bill has not yet passed into law and must be debated further in Dáil Éireann before it can be signed off by the president. Frustrated by the lack of progress on this new piece of legislation, Cllr O’Brien said the delay in progressing this important legislation has “left a gap in legal protections and enforcement powers needed to properly address and deter such harmful behaviour”.

Requesting that Minister O’Callaghan provide an explanation as to why the legislation had yet to be passed into law, Cllr O’Brien also asked for a “definitive timeline” for its enactment.

Both motions were subsequently carried by the council and will be forwarded to Ministers Carroll MacNeill and O’Callaghan for their consideration.