Information on drug related deaths is collected by the Central Statistics Office for the general mortality register in accordance with guidelines developed by the World Health Organisation using International Classification of Diseases Code 9 which includes deaths due to drug dependence and poisoning by opiates and other narcotics.
Figures provided by the CSO, applying the ICD 9 definition, show that in 1997 there were 55 deaths, in 1998 there were 99 deaths and in 1999 there were 80 deaths in this category. These figures however, should be regarded as provisional at this stage, particularly the 1999 figure as further validation may still need to be carried out.