Vol. 549 No. 4
275 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation his Department's latest estimate of the number of drug addicts in the Dublin region; the number of addicts in the Dublin region who cannot be accommodated on a treatment programme; the number of addicts in the Tallaght area; the number of addicts who cannot be accommodated on a treatment programme in the Tallaght area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6940/02]
The Deputy will be aware that estimating the number of drugs users and, in particular, opiate users is a difficult exercise. This is due to a number of factors, not least the illegal nature of the activity and the significant numbers of users who are unwilling to come forward for treatment. A number of attempts have, however, been made to estimate the number of opiate users in Ireland.
In 1996, the first ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs, extrapolating from treatment figures, arrived at an estimate of approximately 8,000 heroin misusers in the greater Dublin area. Dr. Catherine Comiskey's 1996 capture-recapture study, which was based on three data sets – the methadone treatment list, acute hospital discharges and Garda data – suggested a rough estimate of the number of opiate users in Dublin in 1996 was 13,460.
The National Advisory Committee on Drugs recently commissioned a study to estimate the prevalence of opiate drug use in Ireland. The study, which will be based on the three sets of data for 2000, should be completed by August 2002. As part of the study, the researcher will compare the resulting estimate with the findings of the previous capture-recapture study carried out for 1996.
In relation to the treatment figures, the number of heroin misusers receiving methadone treatment at the end of December 2001 was 5,865 while the number awaiting treatment is 428. The number receiving treatment in the South-Western Area Health Board, which covers the Tallaght area, was 2,233 at the end of December 2001, while there are 197 people awaiting treatment.
Question No. 276 answered with Question No. 273.
