Alcohol Action Ireland press release, Thursday 31 July, 2025
Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, notes with concern the figures contained in the Health Research Board’s (HRB) alcohol treatment report for 2024, published today 31 July 2025.
While the headline figures around numbers accessing alcohol treatment are similar to the 2023 report, raising questions as to why has there been so little improvement in alcohol treatment numbers despite the huge chasm between what’s required and what’s currently in place, what is striking is the number of people in treatment, particularly women, who have children under the age of 18, with two out of three women in treatment living with at least one child. This shows there is a huge need to provide services to children in their own right.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “Children are the invisible victims of alcohol harm, and this report only underscores the scale of the issue, with almost half of all people in alcohol treatment living with a child or children. In Ireland, we know that one in three children are living with a parent who regularly binge drinks or is dependent on alcohol, most of whom are not receiving treatment. We also know that in many incidences, alcohol use is the catalyst to significant domestic disruption and abuse and that particularly at holiday times, such as the upcoming bank holiday weekend, this is likely to increase.
“Given the close connection between alcohol and domestic violence there is an urgent need for early intervention support programmes. One such measure is Operation Encompass which, if implemented, would facilitate an early information sharing partnership between Gardai, when they have attended a domestic abuse incident where children were present, and schools, enabling schools and designated staff to offer immediate support. In Northern Ireland where this programme has been in place since May 2023, over 23,000 referrals were made in its first year, which would translate into 60,000 referrals here, giving an indication as to the scale of this invisible problem.
“AAI has been advocating for Operation Encompass’s introduction since 2020 and despite having the support of Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, Tusla, gardai and politicians from right across the political spectrum, there have been many false dawns and now the issue seems to have fallen off the political agenda. AAI is calling on Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to swiftly introduce the legislation needed to enable its roll-out in Ireland. Traumatised children south of the border are no less deserving of support than their northern cousins.”
It’s not just children, however, who are largely forgotten when it comes to service provision, with the HRB report also underscoring the fact that alcohol is only given a cursory glance when dealing with addiction and addiction services even though it remains Ireland’s largest drug problem by far.
About 600,000 people in Ireland show evidence of an alcohol use disorder (AUD), with 90,000 of those having a severe AUD problem. However, the data released today shows there were only 8,745 cases – 44% of which were new cases – gaining access to alcohol treatment services last year, which is staggeringly low for a country where so many people are drinking problematically. There is a significant gap between treatment needs and provision.
Dr Gilheany continued: “Only last week the independent evaluation of the National Drugs Strategy (NDS) reported that 73% of the population consume alcohol compared with 7.3% using any illegal drugs. The report noted the high level of AUD in the population with 20% of drinkers having an AUD – approximately 600,000 people in Ireland.
“While we welcome the 7% increase in treatment cases since 2023, this is lower than the 10% increase we saw last year so it is clear that alcohol treatment is still not getting the resources required for a problem that causes so much harm not only to the individual, but to families and communities. In 2024, only 8,745 alcohol cases were treated compared with 13,295 cases of illegal drug treatment cases, despite the overwhelming prevalence of AUD in Ireland compared with illegal drug use. At the very least the Department of Health must investigate the reasons for this disparity and plan accordingly.
“Alcohol places a heavy burden on the State with costs of at least €12 billion annually arising from health, justice and loss of workplace productivity. Despite these well recognised issues, alcohol policy in Ireland remains disjointed and often contradictory, with very little coherent, joined-up thinking. Some government departments are seeking to enhance alcohol consumption through supports for the alcohol industry and are pushing back against the well-evidenced measures from the Department of Health.
“Current government policy is focused almost exclusively on tackling harms from illegal drugs and doesn’t give alcohol the attention it deserves. Alcohol was very much an afterthought in the NDS which was almost exclusively focused on illegal drugs, with very little reference to the interplay between drugs and alcohol. An estimated 1 in 6 young people suffer the impacts of alcohol-related harms at home, while around 15 babies are born every day with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), a neuro-developmental condition with lifelong implications. Neither issue was even mentioned in the recent evaluation of the NDS.
“Alcohol must be treated with the seriousness it merits. It must be given a bespoke strategy to work in tandem with a new NDS. This policy blind spot regarding alcohol must be addressed in any future strategy or people in need will continue to slip through the cracks.”
ENDS
More details on Operation Encompass available here
Silent Voices policy document here
AAI’s review of the evaluation of the National Drug Strategy “Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery 2017-2025” available here
AAI’s report on Seasonality of alcohol consumption and associated harms available here.
AAI’s Pre-Budget 2026 submission available here
