Rise in referrals for alcohol addiction

MORE people with chronic alcohol addiction are being referred to Cork-based treatment services, with experts claiming one factor could be the role of alcohol in the Roscommon abuse case.

Representatives of Tabor Lodge, a treatment centre in Co Cork, told an Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children yesterday that the number of referrals by social services to its centre had grown in recent years.

The committee also heard that attendance by Tabor Lodge clients at a step-down facility, Fellowship House, was being jeopardised as the Department of Social Protection has withdrawn a €19-a-night discretionary payment.