Employment-INTEGRA, a human resource initiative of the E.U. was launched in 1995 to promote the integration of groups excluded, or at risk of exclusion, from the labour market. It provides community organisations with an opportunity to devise and implement innovative pilot actions to combat the prevalence and persistence of social exclusion in Ireland.

Former drug users are often excluded from the labour market due to numerous societal and individual factors including; the stigma associated with drug use, the fear and ignorance surrounding drug use and related issues, an individual's criminal record and experience of imprisonment, and an inconsistent job history (Lawless and Cox, 1999). Nonetheless, few service providers have focused on the provision of interventions concerned with the re/integration of these individuals into mainstream society.

The Merchant's Quay Project as a drug service provider, identified the need for a programme to help facilitate former drug users who have completed residential drug treatment, into the labour market. The needs of this client group were given priority because the lack of employment opportunities and access to secure accommodation, had been identified as factors contributing to the relapse of former drug users upon completion of a residential drug treatment.