HSE Dublin and North East region has highest rate of alcohol-related hospitalisations in country

'Alcohol use is the leading risk factor for both death and disability-adjusted life years for those aged 25–49 years and accounts for over 5% of all deaths every year, representing at least three people dying every day in Ireland.'

The HSE Dublin and North East region has the highest rate of alcohol-related hospitalisations in the country, followed by Cork and Kerry, new figures show.

The Health Research Board (HRB) said there were over 20,000 alcohol-related hospital discharges in 2023, compared to 17,500 in 2022.

It said these figures “underestimate” the true prevalence as emergency departments and outpatient alcohol data are not collected.

The report also said that the fact that around 30% of the population are non-drinkers needs to be taken into account when alcohol figures are calculated as a percentage of the population.

Figures broken down across the six HSE regional health areas for alcohol-related discharges per 100,000 of the local population show:

*HSE Dublin & North East (A) has a rate of 521 per 100,000; HSE South West — Cork and Kerry (D) — has a rate of 447; HSE Dublin & Midlands (B) has a rate of 440; HSE North & North West (F) has a rate of 413; HSE Dublin & South East (C) has a rate of 375; HSE Midwest (E) has a rate of 280.

The most frequently recorded alcohol issue is ‘mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol use’, with over 4,600 such cases in HSE A, more than 3,600 cases in HSE B and over 2,400 cases in HSE C.

In terms of the rate per 100,000 people, this issue was highest in HSE A (388), HSE B (336) and HSE D (328).

The next most frequent problem was alcohol-related liver disease, with 113 cases in HSE A, 796 in HSE C and 694 in HSE B. Calculated per 100,000 people, this issue was highest in HSE A (87), HSE C (82) and HSE D (73).

The report, written by HRB’s Anne Doyle, said alcohol places a “serious burden” on the Irish health system.

“Its use is the leading risk factor for both death and disability-adjusted life years for those aged 25–49 years and accounts for over 5% of all deaths every year, representing at least three people dying every day in Ireland,” the report said.

“Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions, affecting not only the individual, but also their family, friends, community, and society at large.” 

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The report shows that per capita alcohol use stood at 9.9 litres in 2023, down slightly on 2022 (10.2) and compares to 9.5 in 2021.

Between 2014 and 2019 it averaged close to 11 litres annually.

“Although there has been a decline in per capita alcohol use in Ireland in the last number of years, we are increasingly seeing the legacy of the exceptionally high alcohol use in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” the report said.

“This is evident in the number of alcohol-related hospitalisations we see on a yearly basis.” 

The report said the majority of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 has been commenced, adding that this legislation puts Ireland “at the forefront” of countries observing WHO recommendations on reducing alcohol use and harms.