Officials at Ireland's biggest voluntary drugs treatment centre today said they were unable to cope following figures confirming the worst heroin-addiction figures in the State's history.
The Dublin-based Merchants Quay Ireland organisation said it had dealt with a record 10,000 heroin addicts over the last six years. But the group, which runs Ireland's main voluntary treatment centre, said Government funding for its work had remained unchanged for the past three years - and warned that its services were stretched to breaking point.
Director Mr Tony Geoghegan said the problem not only affected the individuals involved, but their families, friends, and communities. Merchants Quay Ireland today launched a national awareness campaign to highlight the dangers and the damage associated with drug abuse.
Mr Geoghegan said the aim was to encourage the Government, business interests and the wider community to face and tackle the problem. He described the 10,000 figure as "phenomenal" for a voluntary organisation, and reported: "We are creaking at the seams trying to deal with this in a climate where budgets have been frozen.
"We were alerted to this by our annual report, which is about to be published. The health authorities themselves estimate that there are 15,000 users in the country's greater eastern health board region. At our centre, we have gone from about 3,500 people using our services in 2001 to more than 4,000 last year, and that is a significant increase."
Mr Geoghegan said the current economic slowdown in Ireland could worsen the problem as drug abuse thrived in conditions of poverty. "When we are in a downturn, it is more likely that we are going to see more people turning to drugs. It is particularly at a time when resources are stretched that we really need to focus on this," he said. "There are significant gaps in services, but the authorities have placed a moratorium on development.
"We are pressed more now to look at the voluntary and the corporate sector in providing these services. "We want to let the public know the issue has not gone away and that the number of drug-users is increasing and that public funds are not increasing to keep pace with that - and heighten the awareness that treatment really works."
PA