One of the country's long-established addiction treatment centres has reported a high demand for support from patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Rutland Centre in Knocklyon in Dublin said that, in many cases, addictive behaviour has become more visible in the home and the pandemic may have highlighted how serious a family member's problem behaviour is.
Clinical Manager Emma Kavanagh said that the period has been a hugely challenging time for families and especially for those in which a family member is in recovery from, or in active addiction.
She said that at the beginning of the lockdown period, the phone lines to the centre became quiet, but have become much busier than what would be expected.