Accessing timely, effective treatment
Studies by the Health Research Board (HRB) have found 14.8% of the population in Ireland – 578,000 people, show evidence of an alcohol use disorder (AUD), with 90,000 of those having a severe AUD problem.[1] Applied to 2025 population estimates and those living with an AUD could be as high as 818,790 people.[2]
International evidence suggests that at any one time, 10% of those in need may seek treatment.[3] The most recent data from the HRB (2025) shows that in 2024 there were only 3,847 new cases treated for alcohol use problems out of 8,745 cases.[4] While the case total itself represented a 7% increase on 2023. These figures are staggeringly low for a country where so many people are drinking problematically.
For example – more than half of drinkers in Ireland drink at hazardous levels, and this figure rises to 64% for young people, while 28% of the population binge drinks.[5] [6] The reasons these figures are so important is because research has shown that, even in moderate drinkers, persistent binge drinking is associated with experiencing concurrent multiple alcohol problems in the future.[7]
Clearly, given the scale of the problem, alcohol treatment is not getting the resources required for a problem that causes so much harm not only to the individual, but to families and communities.
Alcohol addiction services are currently funded at a level of approximately €1.58 million annually while the wider costs of alcohol to the State are estimated at least at €3.6 billion. Such harms result in significant health service expenses, costs across the criminal justice system, lost economic productivity, and road traffic collisions, to name but a few.
Year | Alcohol and Mental Health and Wellbeing Programmes/Initiatives | Alcohol-related grants to Section 39 organisations |
2024 | 1,061,734 | 581,601 |
2025 | 1,029,054 | 557,346 |
Above: PQ 8826/25: Total funding allocated to the HSE alcohol programme [8]
Research shows that people who access treatment for alcohol have likely experienced trauma at some point in their lives and have some sort of mental health need. Issues can include domestic violence, abuse, parental problem substance use, poverty and bereavement/ loss, all of which contribute to poor mental health. Furthermore, as alcohol is a gateway drug, many who suffer from problem alcohol use may also have an additional substance use problem. HRB research indicates that 30% of problem alcohol cases use other drugs with alcohol.[9]
Accessing timely, effective treatment for problem alcohol use is crucial for recovery, but very many barriers to accessing treatment too often stand in the way of getting help. Barriers people face are on a spectrum from simply not knowing what’s available in terms of help and how to access it, to the lack of timely provision of services across all stages of recovery such as detox facilities and aftercare. For women there are also very specific issues such as childcare and the fear of having children taken away because of their alcohol problem.
On top of all of this, they may be experiencing issues such as domestic abuse, financial struggles and grief, not to mention stigma for having the problem in the first place. Research shows that women with a drug or alcohol dependence disorder report significantly higher levels of stigma than men.[10] Indeed, fear of stigmatising experiences is one of the most reported factors hindering women from accessing substance use treatment.
AAI advocates that a national strategy should set out the types of interventions that constitute best practice and develop national standards against which services can be evaluated and monitored.[11] In particular residential treatment services, like all other residential health-care services in Ireland, should be monitored by HIQA. Person-centred trauma-informed services would ensure that people’s rights are at the centre of policies and practices.
The need for specialist services for at risk populations must be investigated without delay, as set out in the national drug and alcohol strategy, for example, international research makes a case for specialist services for older people.[12]
Some of these issues were discussed at an AAI webinar, Access to Alcohol Treatment: Removing Barriers to Healthcare.[13]
[1] https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/34287/
[2] https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-pme/populationandmigrationestimatesapril2025/
[3] https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/34924/
[4] https://www.hrb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Alcohol-treatment-demand-2024-Infographic.pdf
[5] https://www.hrb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HRB_Alcohol_Overview_Series_13.pdf
[6] https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/3d4f1d01/Healthy_Ireland_Summary_Report_2024_-_Web.pdf
[7] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10826084.2025.2570882
[8] https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/personalpq/pq/2025-pq-responses/february-2025/pq-8826-25-padraig-rice.pdf
[9] https://www.hrb.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Alcohol-treatment-demand-2024-Infographic.pdf
[10] https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/34462/1/BLDATF_TDATF_SWAAT_Research_2021.pdf
[11] https://alcoholireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AAI_AlcoholTreatmentServices_A-Snapshot-Survey-2021.pdf
[12] https://alcoholireland.ie/facts-about-alcohol/alcohol-and-older-people/
