State-sponsored heroin addicts costing us €20m

Annual taxpayers' bill for opiate substitute methadone is revealed as the HSE prepares to unroll a programme supply the drug nationwide.

More than 11,000 drug addicts are now being given the heroin substitute methadone as the HSE prepares to roll out new services to supply the replacement drug around the country.

It's costing nearly €20m a year to provide the substitute to heroin addicts.

In north Dublin, including the city centre, it costs €7,034 per patient each year to provide methadone and clinical support. The high cost is because many addicts in these areas have particularly chaotic lifestyles and require intensive high-level support.

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Source: Jerome Reilly, The Sunday Independent, 29/08/2010