The number of people seeking treatment for drugs and alcohol increased by over a third last year, one of the country’s largest treatment centres has revealed. 

Established in 1973, last year Coolmine Therapeutic Community treated 3,293 people and their families - a figure 35% higher than in 2023. 

In its annual report, the organisation also noted it had achieved a 74% retention rate in its residential services. 

 “We operate 16 services and 22 satellite clinics across the East Region, the Midwest Region and the South West Region of Ireland,” CEO Pauline McKeown told Newstalk Breakfast. 

“I think one of the other key critical findings for us - and something that we were pleased to see - was that over 1,300 of those were women. 

“We’ve made a particular drive for the past five, six years to break down the barriers for women to access treatment. 

“I suppose our work there has paid off to a degree; what we see is an 11% increase in women coming forward to accessing support.” 

A patient with a doctor. Picture by: Tero Vesalainen / Alamy Stock Photo

There are, Ms McKeown continued, a number of reasons why the number of people seeking treatment has risen. 

Chief among them are better support for parents with young children who need help. 

“For example, we put in place early years and pre-school services, so that means that a mother can access treatment with her children,” she said. 

“That’s really key because someone might be in homelessness, might be within the justice system and they’re a mother, there’s a huge stigma there for them. 

“There’s also a huge fear - and it’s not irrational - that their children may be taken into care if they come forward for addiction treatment and support. 

“So, we were really delighted to see that figure.” 

Main image: A doctor and a patient. Picture by: Alamy.com.