Demand for drug treatment services has ‘exploded’, support group says

Ireland is seeing much greater demand for services supporting people affected by addiction, homelessness and social exclusion. Eddie Mullins of Merchants Quay Ireland said demand had “exploded” and that people arriving for help were facing enormous trauma, pain and suffering. This matters because services must respond to growing and increasingly complex needs.

The clearest example is Jane’s Place, a women-only service in Dublin 2. The number of women using it rose from 165 in 2024 to 255 in 2025. That is a 55 per cent increase. Overall engagements between staff and people experiencing homelessness and/or addiction also increased substantially, from 141,730 to 183,763.

The figures suggest pressure is growing across treatment, harm reduction and basic support. Merchants Quay Ireland said Ireland’s drug landscape is changing, with complex drug use, mental-health needs and social exclusion. The charity called for sustained investment and practical services where people need them, including in rural Ireland.

The scale of increased demand is visible in both specialist services and everyday support. Staff engagements with people experiencing homelessness and/or addiction rose from 141,730 in 2024 to 183,763 in 2025. Merchants Quay Ireland described this as an almost 30 per cent increase.

Women’s use of Jane’s Place grew even faster. The Dublin 2 women-only service supported 165 women in 2024 and 255 in 2025, a 55 per cent rise. The charity also served 86,677 meals, which was 22 per cent more than in 2024. These figures show demand for treatment-related support alongside food and safety.

The increases point to wider hardship, not just more appointments. Mullins said people remained hungry, cold and shunned despite Ireland’s wealth. The charity’s services include needle exchange, supervised injection, rehabilitation and recovery. It says sustained investment is needed to turn the national strategy into practical help on the ground.

Harm reduction means reducing the health and social dangers associated with drug use, even when a person is not ready or able to stop. It matters because people may face overdose, infection, stigma or unsafe conditions before they enter treatment. These services offer practical protection and a route toward further support.

A needle exchange provides sterile equipment, helping people avoid sharing used needles and connect with workers. A supervised injection facility gives people a safer place to inject under medical supervision. Staff can monitor what happens and respond if someone overdoses. Merchants Quay Ireland provides both kinds of harm-reduction support, as well as rehabilitation and recovery services.

The article presents harm reduction as part of a wider response to complex drug use, trauma and exclusion. Almost 1,500 people used Ireland’s supervised injection facility in 2025. The charity says services must be evidence-based, gender-responsive and available in the regions where they are needed.

A medically supervised injection facility provides a safer, monitored place for people who inject drugs. Instead of injecting alone or in an unsafe public setting, visitors can use the facility while medical staff observe them. This matters because an overdose can become fatal if nobody is present to recognise it and act quickly.

The facility opened at the end of 2024 and is Ireland’s only one of its kind. Almost 1,500 people accessed it in 2025. Staff supervise the injection process and monitor for possible overdose. If an overdose occurs, trained workers can provide an immediate response and summon further medical help, reducing the chance that the person dies unseen.

The service is potentially life-saving, but its reach is limited by what it can accommodate. It is designed for intravenous drug use and cannot serve people who smoke crack cocaine. Merchants Quay Ireland says another type of drugs consumption facility is needed for that excluded group.

The existing supervised injection facility serves people who inject drugs intravenously. It cannot accommodate people who smoke crack cocaine because their method of taking the drug is different. This leaves a group facing serious risks without access to the same supervised setting and immediate support.

Merchants Quay Ireland says crack cocaine is causing “untold harm” and presents complex challenges. The charity wants a drugs consumption facility that could capture people excluded from the current service. Such a facility would create a point of contact where workers could engage people who smoke crack cocaine and connect them with support.

The gap is important because the charity says specific supports for crack cocaine are difficult to find and often have limited impact. Mullins contrasted this with heroin and opiate-substitute treatment, where the relationship between the drug problem and treatment is clearer. The proposed facility is part of a broader call for practical, evidence-based services.

Ireland’s new national drugs strategy aims to make services easier to find and more inclusive. Its priorities include awareness, reducing stigma, treatment, harm reduction, recovery, gender-responsive support and regional provision. The strategy also recognises that drug use is changing and that services must reach rural Ireland as well as towns and cities.

The strategy’s significance lies in translating policy into help people can actually use. Minister Jennifer Murnane O’Connor said vulnerable people should know services are there for them. Merchants Quay Ireland called the strategy a step in the right direction, but said sustained investment and practical measures on the ground were essential.

Some people were disappointed that it did not commit to decriminalising possession for personal use. That omission mattered because decriminalisation had been recommended by the 2023 Citizens’ Assembly on drug use. The article does not describe a new decision on the recommendation, only the disappointment about its absence.

Addiction, trauma, homelessness and stigma can create overlapping barriers to recovery. The charity says people seeking help are dealing with enormous trauma, pain and suffering. Homelessness can add hunger, cold and social exclusion, leaving people focused on immediate survival. Stigma can then make them feel judged or unwelcome when they try to use services.

These pressures can reinforce one another. Drug use may become more complex alongside mental-health needs and unstable housing. Without a safe place to eat, inject under supervision or speak with staff, a person may remain disconnected from treatment. Women can face additional stigma and need gender-responsive support, which is why Jane’s Place provides a women-only service.

The article shows both the scale of need and the response required. Merchants Quay Ireland offers food, harm reduction, rehabilitation and recovery support. The national strategy highlights inclusion and awareness. Sustained, regional services could make it easier for people to engage with help and maintain that connection.