Ireland has high levels of alcohol use and not surprisingly there are correspondingly high numbers of people who have problems with alcohol and who might need professional help. Treatment services for alcohol exist on a continuum and range from brief interventions, to community addiction services, detox facilities and residential rehabilitation. The last of these – residential – comprises around 37% of treatment cases annually and is a well-established intervention for some people requiring assistance for problems with alcohol.

Health Research Board data indicates that there are up to 250,000 dependent drinkers in Ireland and international data suggests that at any one time 10% of such a cohort may be seeking treatment. However, in Ireland there are only about 3,500 new cases per annum entering treatment, so clearly there is a significant gap between treatment needs and provision and alcohol treatment simply does not get the resources required for a problem that causes so much harm not only to the drinker, but to families and communities.

In order to explore some of the issues around the residential treatment landscape in Ireland, AAI carried out a snapshot survey of alcohol treatment services in Ireland. Approximately half of all residential providers took part in the survey as well as a small number of community providers......