Mortality Rates

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 May 2019

Wednesday, 15 May 2019

Ceisteanna (201)

Gerry Adams

Ceist:

201. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health the mortality rates for alcohol-related causes and for drug-related causes by county in tabular form. [21093/19]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health

The Irish National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) is an epidemiological database which records cases of death by drug and alcohol poisoning, and deaths among drug users and those who are alcohol dependent. The NDRDI is maintained by the Health Research Board (HRB). The HRB has provided the following information from NDRDI in response to the question raised by Deputy Adams based on the latest available information.

Please Note:

1. Poisonings are considered as deaths directly due to the toxic effect of the presence in the body of a drug or drugs and/or other substance(s). Other terms used to describe such deaths include overdose, directly drug-related death and acute drug death. Deaths arising from adverse reactions to prescribed medication are not included in the NDRDI.

2. Non-poisonings are considered as deaths in individuals with a history of drug dependency or non-dependent abuse of drugs (ascertained from toxicology results and from CTL, medical or coronial records), irrespective of whether the use of the drug was directly implicated in the death. For presentation purposes it is necessary to group these deaths into broad categories.

Table 1: Number of poisoning deaths due to alcohol and/or other drugs, by county of residence, NDRDI 2007 to 2016 (n=3759)

County	Total
Dublin	1512
Cork	372
Limerick	152
Galway	135
Tipperary	122
Kildare	116
Waterford	116
Louth	112
Meath	99
Wicklow	97
Kerry	92
Mayo	83
Donegal	82
Wexford	77
Westmeath	69
Clare	63
Laois	60
Kilkenny	59
Cavan	55
Carlow	53
Offaly	43
Sligo	37
Longford	33
Monaghan	33
Roscommon	22
Leitrim	18
Outside Ireland	32
Not known	8
Homeless	7
Total	3759

Table 2: Number of non-poisoning deaths among people who use drugs (excluding alcohol), by county of residence, NDRDI 2007 to 2016 (n=3015)

County	Total
Dublin	1608
Cork	293
Kildare	95
Limerick	95
Galway	77
Tipperary	72
Louth	72
Wicklow	64
Meath	62
Wexford	60
Kerry	48
Waterford	47
Donegal	44
Westmeath	43
Clare	41
Cavan	35
Laois	33
Sligo	27
Offaly	26
Kilkenny	26
Mayo	25
Longford	22
Carlow	21
Monaghan	17
Roscommon	12
Leitrim	10
Outside Ireland	27
No fixed abode	9
Not known	<5
Total	3015

Table 3: Number of non-poisoning deaths among people known to be alcohol dependent, by year, by county of residence, NDRDI 2007 to 2016 (n=8256)

County	Total
Dublin	3254
Cork	998
Galway	339
Kerry	306
Kildare	295
Limerick	276
Donegal	258
Mayo	228
Louth	223
Tipperary	202
Wicklow	200
Meath	188
Wexford	185
Waterford	166
Westmeath	121
Clare	113
Roscommon	109
Sligo	107
Monaghan	101
Kilkenny	95
Offaly	94
Cavan	91
Longford	72
Laois	70
Leitrim	52
Carlow	47
Outside Ireland	48
Not known	11
No fixed abode	7
Total	8256