Demand for drug treatment services has “exploded” with women in particular seeking support in bigger numbers, the head of Ireland’s largest voluntary addiction charity has said.
The group offers harm-reduction services such as needle exchange, a medically supervised injection facility, as well as rehabilitation and recovery services.
Eddie Mullins, chief executive of Merchants Quay Ireland, said those coming for help, were dealing with “enormous trauma, pain, suffering”.
Mullins was speaking at the publication of the group’s 2025 annual report on Wednesday. “It’s getting worse,” he said. “We can see that.”
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The report shows an almost 30 per cent increase in engagements between staff and people in homelessness and/or addiction last year, from 141,730 in 2024, to 183,763.
The number of women accessing Jane’s Place, the group’s dedicated women-only service in Dublin 2, increased from 165 in 2024 to 255 last year – a 55 per cent increase.
The charity served 86,677 meals last year – up 22 per cent on 2024, said Mullins.
“It’s remarkable to think in a country as wealthy as ours people still need to access a free meal,” he said. “They are still hungry, still cold and still shunned, in many respects, by society.”
Almost 1,500 people accessed the supervised injection facility last year, where intravenous drug-users can access a safe place to inject under medical supervision and with monitoring for possible overdose.
The facility, the only one of its kind in Ireland, opened at the end of 2024. While a potentially life-saving facility for drug-injectors, it cannot accommodate crack cocaine smokers.
The group has said a drugs consumption facility would capture these excluded drug-users.
“Crack cocaine is causing untold harm,” said Mullins. “It is a very complex substance. It presents a set of challenges for people who are using crack cocaine. We need to find ways of engaging with people who are using crack cocaine.
“We know if we look at heroin and opiate substitute treatments there is a direct correlation between one and the other. When it comes to crack cocaine it is very hard to find specific supports that really make an impact.”
“Stigma is one of the biggest challenges drug users face,” said Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy.
Key issues in the new strategy, published last month, included ensuring awareness of services among those who needed them, and tackling stigma experienced by users, especially women, said the Minister.
“Drugs is an addiction and we need to be inclusive and make sure people know we are there for them,” she said. “We want to make sure the most vulnerable people in society know that.
“We see in the last few years the way drugs have changed. Drugs are everywhere. We know we need to look at rural Ireland as well as our towns and cities. We want to make sure the services that are needed are where they are needed.”
There was disappointment among some that the new strategy did not include a commitment to decriminalise possession of drugs for personal use – a recommendation of the 2023 Citizens’ Assembly on drug use.
Merchants Quay Ireland described the new national strategy as “a step in the right direction” with recovery, harm reduction, treatment, gender-responsive supports and regional support at its core.
“Ireland’s drug landscape continues to evolve,” it said. “We are dealing with complex drug use, mental health needs and significant social exclusion.
“We need sustained investment in evidence-based harm reduction, and the strategy needs to translate into practical measures on the ground,” said the charity.
