The study has demonstrated the strong relationship between area-based disadvantage and addiction treatment episodes: living in a deprived area is strongly associated with use of drug and alcohol treatment services. The relationship becomes more pronounced as area-based deprivation increases, with the highest rate of treatment episodes seen in the most deprived areas. The rate of addiction treatments in the most disadvantaged areas is 13 times higher than in the most affluent areas. For certain drug types the relationship is more pronounced. Heroin treatment is 41 times more prevalent in disadvantaged areas compared with the most affluent areas. The pattern of higher treatment rates in more disadvantaged communities holds across every deprivation band and across every drug type. The relationship between deprivation and treatment is weakest for alcohol, although rates are still 7.5 times higher in the most deprived areas compared with the most affluent ones. The relationship between deprivation and addiction treatment was most apparent in urban settlements, particularly cities, and much less pronounced in rural ones.

Summary of data:

• There were 20,970 treatment episodes recorded in the NDTRS in 2024. Of those, 19,339 included an associated Small Area, which allowed for geospatial analysis and deprivation classification. The data comprised of 14,449 episodes (69%) from outpatient services; 4,474 (21%) from inpatient services; followed by low threshold services (1,815 episodes,9%) and GPs (232 episodes of Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) treatment only, 1%).
• Alcohol was the most common type of substance for which treatment was provided, accounting for 40.5% of all treatment episodes in 2024. Close to one quarter of treatment episodes relate to cocaine use (powder and crack), with heroin, cannabis and benzodiazepine (BZD) the other most common drug types for which treatment was provided.

Addiction treatment and the Pobal HP Deprivation Index:

• Just 3.8% of the population live in areas classified as very (or extremely) disadvantaged, these areas accounted for 15% of treatment episodes for all drug types. While those living in areas classed as ‘disadvantaged’ represent 10% of the population but 20% of treatment episodes.
• The majority of the general population (71%) live in ‘marginally above average’ or ‘marginally below average’ areas while those areas account for only 56% of all treatments.
• This skew towards disadvantaged areas is strongest for heroin, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and benzodiazepines, and weakest for alcohol and cannabis.
• Differences in the strength of the relationship between deprivation and drug treatment were observed across HSE Health Regions (HRs): HSE Dublin and North East has the highest treatment rates within the most disadvantaged areas, while HSE West & North-West is the lowest.