Vol. 428 No. 2
116 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the location of treatment centres for people with addiction problems; the number of people under the age of 21 years who were treated for addiction problems in 1992; if he will give a breakdown of the numbers attending and the related problem; and the new measures, if any, which have been introduced to help deal with these matters.
Treatment centres for people with addiction problems are located in each health board area and there is a comprehensive network of services available throughout the country. The centres and services are run by statutory and non-statutory organisations and provide a wide range of services, including in-patient, out-patient, after-care, counselling, self-help, advice and information. The addictions dealt with include alcohol, drugs, smoking, eating disorders and gambling and the centres cater for both adults and adolescents. I have sent details of the centres to the Deputy but due to the very large number of centres involved, I regret that I do not have the attendance and age-profile information sought by him. In this regard, I have also sent him a copy of a recent study by the Health Research Board regarding Treated Drug Misuse in the greater Dublin area which shows, inter alia, 95 per cent of persons who attended for treatment for drug misuse were aged between 15 and 39 years old and the mean age for treatment was 25 years.
|
Age Group |
1988 |
1989 |
|
Under 15 |
9 |
2 |
|
15—19 |
47 |
50 |
|
20—24 |
247 |
248 |
|
25—30 |
1,240 |
1,227 |
|
35—44 |
2,004 |
2,066 |
|
45—54 |
1,462 |
1,558 |
|
55—64 |
888 |
854 |
|
65—74 |
491 |
426 |
|
75 and over |
90 |
143 |
|
Unspecified |
nil |
34 |
|
All Ages |
6,478 |
6,608 |
