Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
488. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the reason the Health Research Board have not conducted an analysis of drug and alcohol deaths since 2017; and when it plans to publish such a study again. [29263/21]
View answer489. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the location the collated up-to-date information on drug and alcohol death is available. [29264/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 488 and 489 together.
The National Drug Related Deaths Index (NDRDI), which was last published in 2017, is a system for recording drug-related deaths and deaths among drug users to enable the State and its agencies to respond in a timely manner, and with accurate data.
The NDRDI is funded by the Department of Health and the Department of Justice and Equality and managed by the Health Research Board (HRB). The HRB collect data from closed coronial files relating to all deaths where a history of drug use and/or alcohol dependency was recorded, and/or where drugs including alcohol were implicated in the death.
Unfortunately, annual data on drug and alcohol-related deaths regarding the NDRDI has been delayed due to the Covid-19 public health restrictions. The data collected includes administrative details, demographic details, socio-economic information, problem drug use, risk behaviours, drug treatment history, details about the death itself, and medical diagnosis.
Data collection has restarted, however, as this includes extracting data from closed Coronial inquest files onsite at the offices of individual Coroners, this is dependent on both access to Coroner’s offices to collect the data, and the completion of any backlog in holding inquests in the Coroner’s courts due to Covid-19 public health restrictions.
Deaths due drug and alcohol overdose are a tragic loss of life and cause a huge amount of grief and devastation for families. Tackling these preventable deaths is a central theme in our National Drug Strategy.
