Alcohol Treatment in Ireland 2011 to 2017

The Health Resource Board has published its latest bulletin and infographic describing the trends in treated problem alcohol use between 2011 to 2017. 

Data was collected through the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) which is the system used to analyse records and reports on cases of drug and alcohol treatment in Ireland.

Some of the key findings include:

• In the seven-year period, a total of 55,675 cases were treated for problem alcohol use. The number of cases decreased from 8,876 in 2011 to 7,350 in 2017

• Polydrug use increased from 19.0% in 2011 to 19.8% in 2017.

• Cannabis was the most common additional drug used at 60.5% in 2017, followed by cocaine at 41.8% in 2017.

• The proportion of new cases presenting to treatment decreased from 52.3% in 2011 to 47.6% in 2017. However, the proportion of previously treated cases increased over the reporting period, from 46.3% in 2011 to 49.7% in 2017.