The HSE has spent almost €30 million on addiction services in Clare’s Community Healthcare Organisation area since 2017.
The latest figures from the Health Research Board show that the number of people treated for a main drug related problem in the region has fallen by just over 5% in the last year.
Approximately 832 people in the Community Healthcare Organisation of Clare, Limerick & Tipperary were treated for addiction in cases were drug use was identified as the main factor in 2022.
The figures show that 382 of those were new presentations , which marks a drop of just 5% from the 403 new cases recorded in the previous year.
The factsheet also shows that Clare accounted for 33% of all addiction treatment cases in the region in 2021.
Alcohol was the main factor in 113 cases in the county that year, followed by Cocaine with 51, Cannabis with 33 & Benzodiazepines with 32.
Of those seeking treatment in Clare that year, 36% were aged between 25-34, 28% were aged 35 to 44, while eleven were aged under 18.
Items such as amphetamines, opioids, heroin and ecstacy which were identified in five cases or less were omitted from the dataset.
The Health Research Board’s latest factsheet on drugs also details the expenditure of the HSE on addiction services here.
Between 2017 and 2021, the healthcare provider spent an average of €5,818,100 tackling addiction in the region, while a budget of over €9million was allocated in 2022.
