Research highlights serious harm caused to children by parental alcohol and drug use

The 2022 report estimated that 15% of Ireland’s child population were affected by parental problem alcohol use alone. The scale of hidden harm in some Dublin communities was 'significantly higher' than 15%, according to new research. File Picture

Children are enduring hunger and lack of hygiene, as well as stunted language and grooming skills, due to parental problem  alcohol and drug use, new research has found.

Youth workers, school and afterschool managers, drug and family services, as well as health and social care professionals, also report heightened volatility, neurodivergence, and traumatic experiences among the children affected.

The research highlights the harm caused to children and young people growing up in communities with open, widespread drug dealing and substance use.

It calls for a long-term, community-based programme to deal with the social and economic “root causes” of substance misuse in communities.

The research, Hidden Harm in the Canal Communities, was carried out in south-west inner city Dublin.

That covers the communities of Bluebell, Inchicore, and Rialto, where affluent and average-income areas co-exist with areas and pockets of disadvantage, including significant disadvantage.

Some 30 professionals, six community representatives, and 14 young people (aged 15-17) were interviewed.

The report said a 2022 study by Alcohol Action Ireland and UCC estimated that 200,000 children — 15% of Ireland’s child population — were affected by parental problem alcohol use alone, not including drug use.

The research stated that, based on its interviews, the scale of hidden harm in the canal communities was “significantly higher” than 15%.

Representatives of one primary school said that two out of every three pupils were unable to take part in schooling because of family addiction, while a youth worker estimated between 50%-70% of participants had parents with problematic substance abuse.

The youth work professionals consulted said that the harm was manifesting in children in various ways, including: shame, volatile behaviour, detachment, and physical appearances.

Across the participants in the study, the following impacts were identified:

• Loss of routine and greater unpredictability, including school attendance;
• Parents not keeping appointments, including for children’s speech and language therapy. One local primary school referred to children aged four to five with language development of a two-and-a-half-year-old;
• Children unable to form healthy friendships;
• Poverty, with parents spending more on substances than rent or essential items;
• Physical health of children, including hunger, being dirty, and greater risk of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder;
• Criminality, with children as young as nine or 10 years old being groomed into criminal activity, with girls at increased risk of sexual exploitation.

The research, conducted by Neil Haran, was commissioned by a local interagency group, led by the Rialto Community Drug Team, Bluebell Youth Project, Core Youth Service, and Rialto Youth Project.

Other organisations involved include Barnardos, Frontline, the Canal Communities Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force (LDATF), Tusla, and the HSE.

A provider of early years education told researchers of children presenting with oppositional disorders, ADHD and learning difficulties, with high levels of emotional dysregulation.

One provider of afterschool services said: “From nine years up, they are involved in smoking, vaping, drinking, stealing cars.” 

Concerns were raised over children being groomed into the drugs trade, including for reasons of “aspiring to the lifestyle of dealers”.

One social worker said pregnancy “needed to be a priority time for intervention” and that referrals to social work after the birth of a baby were “sometimes too late”.

Children and young people were also traumatised through witnessing intimidation and violence around the drugs trade.

Participants cited the impact of open drug use and open drug dealing in areas and how this was seen as “normal” in such communities, with some parents refusing to let their children outside as a result.

Community representatives called for more homework clubs, more “safe spaces” and family therapy, while young people also called for more homework clubs, but also wanted more youth services and youth workers.

On policing, the report said that while young people believed there was “no way of limiting” the amount of drugs available in the communities, they stressed the value of “limiting supply”, along with more services and supports.

The research called for a long-term community-based approach to challenge the normalcy of substance misuse.

“Multiple references are made in this report to substance misuse, and the criminality associated with substance misuse, being everyday features of life in the canal communities,” it stated.

“Similarly, multiple references are made to the widely-held belief that this should not be so: That young people should not be growing up in communities believing that endemic substance misuse and overt dealing is an appropriate norm.

"Consultation participants highlighted the daily harm to children and young people caused by overt, widespread dealing and substance misuse in their communities.” 

It said the negative effects of substance misuse were experienced “most acutely in areas of most concentrated economic disadvantage”.

It said the long-term community approach must try to address the “root causes” of substance misuse.