Strengthening Ireland’s response to new and emerging trends within the next policy life cycle
A supplement to Drugnet Ireland 93, February 2026
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Drugnet 93
Drugnet Ireland is the Health Research Board’s quarterly drug and alcohol research and policy newsletter. It provides summaries and analysis of recent publications and policy developments and well as overviews of particular issues relating to the drug and alcohol situation Ireland. Experts from the EUDA national focal point and from the HRB Evidence Centre contribute […]
Safety, cost and environmental impact of reprocessing low and moderate risk single-use medical devices: a systematic review
Objectives: Estimate the safety, financial and environmental impacts of reprocessing low and moderate risk single-use medical devices (SuMDs). Methods: Systematic review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022365642) of primary studies of patients receiving reprocessed low and moderate risk SuMDs (non-critical and semi-critical medical devices a and b) versus first use of otherwise identical SuMDs. Items were sourced via database and […]
Health Research in Action
This year’s Health Research in Action highlights some of the many notable impacts and outcomes of our work. It includes a snapshot in numbers of recent work completed, followed by 22 success stories about wide-ranging health and social care research across five themes. The stories include HRB-funded projects about identifying when and how people experience […]
Drug poisoning deaths in Ireland in 2022
Data from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) This NDRDI bulletin presents data on drug poisoning deaths in Ireland in 2022, with key trends for period 2013 to 2022. Drug poisoning deaths are deaths due to the toxic effects of one or more substances. Included in this bulletin are poisoning deaths due to illicit drugs […]
Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) use and harms in Ireland: new findings from the 2024 European Web Survey on Drugs
Background: Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) is a semi-synthetic cannabinoid which was marketed and sold openly in Ireland as a legal alternative to cannabis products until it was controlled in July 2025. There have been reports of psychotic illness precipitated by HHC use. Consequently, there are fears that HHC may become a public health issue. This study’s aim […]
Drug use prevalence in Ireland: Findings from recent population studies and estimates of problematic use
This is a supplement to Drugnet 92. Drugnet Ireland is the Health Research Board’s quarterly drug and alcohol research and policy newsletter. It provides summaries and analysis of recent publications and policy developments and well as overviews of particular issues relating to the drug and alcohol situation Ireland. Experts from the EUDA national focal point […]
Drugnet 92
Drugnet Ireland is the Health Research Board’s quarterly drug and alcohol research and policy newsletter. It provides summaries and analysis of recent publications and policy developments and well as overviews of particular issues relating to the drug and alcohol situation Ireland. Experts from the EUDA national focal point and from the HRB Evidence Centre contribute […]
Effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of pharmacist prescribing
The HRB conducted a systematic review to synthesise evidence on the effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of pharmacist prescribing. This systematic review provides policy-makers in the Department of Health with evidence related to the safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of pharmacist prescribing compared with other prescribing healthcare professionals across primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare settings. This evidence […]
The effectiveness of public health interventions in reducing sunbed use and rates of skin cancer
The HRB conducted a systematic review to provide evidence on the effectiveness of public health interventions in reducing sunbed use and rates of skin cancer. This review was undertaken to inform policy-makers at the Department of Health in Ireland who are considering the development or revision of regulations relating to sunbed use. Skin cancer is […]
Women’s health treatment interventions and outcomes: An evidence and gap map review
This publication can be read in conjunction with the following interactive gap maps Evidence and gap map 1: Interventions by health conditions: This map displays interventions as its rows and health conditions as its columns. It illustrates the available evidence on interventions that have been evaluated for all the selected health conditions. Evidence and gap […]
Polysubstance use in early adulthood and associated factors in the Republic of Ireland: an analysis of a nationally representative
Background and aims: Alcohol and other drug use is common in early adulthood; however, research on contemporary polysubstance use patterns—defined as use of multiple psychoactive substances—and their associated factors is limited. This study aimed to identify groups with differing polysubstance use patterns and to examine associations with individual, family and socio-environmental factors. Design: This is […]
Annual Report 2024 – Part One
The HRB Annual Report 2024, Part 1, can be read in conjunction which Part Two which is published later in 2025. This report contains the Chairperson and Chief Executive’s report; a snapshot of important HRB activities during 2024; key deliverables (in line with the HRB Strategy 2021-2025, Health Research – Making an Impact), case studies and […]
Alcohol treatment demand in Ireland 2024
This is the annual, updated bulletin from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) on cases of treated problem alcohol use in Ireland. This bulletin includes a detailed summary of 8,745 cases treated for alcohol as a main problem in 2024. Trends cover an eight-year period 2017 to 2024.
Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2024
The 2024 report provides data presented nationally as well as by: – county – hospital type – individual psychiatric units/hospitals Data tables and individual bulletins for all HSE health regions can be found below:
Drug use in Ireland 2023: Findings from the Healthy Ireland Survey
The Healthy Ireland Survey is an interviewer-administered survey of the health and health behaviours of people living in Ireland. It was first conducted in 2015 and is undertaken annually. It is commissioned by the Department of Health and carried out by Ipsos B&A. Each wave has included a sample of approximately 7,500 individuals, representative of […]
Trends in cocaine use and cocaine-related harms in Ireland: a retrospective, multi-source database study.
Background: Increased cocaine supply has coincided with increased global cocaine use. In 2019 Ireland had one of the highest last-year rates of cocaine use in Europe. However, there is a lack of data on the health-related impacts of cocaine use in European countries over time. Methods: This retrospective, multi-source database study utilised data from national […]
Safety, cost and environmental impact of reprocessing high risk single-use medical devices: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Abstract: Aim: To estimate the safety, financial and environmental effects of reprocessing high risk SUMDs. Methods: Systematic review (PROSPERO ID: CRD42022365642) of primary trial and observational studies of human participants receiving reprocessed high risk SUMDs compared with first use of identical SUMDs. Reprocessing was defined as cleaning, disinfection, and sterilisation or related procedures, and function […]
Overview of people engaging with disability services bulletin 2024
Bulletin from the National Ability Supports System (NASS) on data provided by disability service providers for people engaging with services through the HSE disability budget in 2024.
Drugnet 91
Drugnet Ireland is the Health Research Board’s quarterly drug and alcohol research and policy newsletter. It provides summaries and analysis of recent publications and policy developments and well as overviews of particular issues relating to the drug and alcohol situation Ireland. Experts from the EUDA national focal point and from the HRB Evidence Centre contribute […]
Drug treatment demand in Ireland 2024
This is the annual, updated bulletin from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) on cases of treated problem drug use (excluding alcohol) in Ireland. This bulletin includes a detailed summary of 13,295 cases treated for drug use as a main problem in 2024. Trends cover an eight-year period 2017 to 2024.
Deaths among people who were homeless at time of death in Ireland, 2021
In this bulletin, data on deaths among people who were homeless and who died in 2021 are presented along with a summary of deaths that occurred from 2019 to 2021. The NDRDI collects data on all deaths among people who were homeless at the time of death, to improve understanding of premature mortality among people […]
Effect of artificial community water fluoridation on dental health. An evidence review
This systematic review collates the evidence on the positive and negative effects of artificial community water fluoridation (CWF) on dental caries and fluorosis between 1948 and 2023. In addition, the review attempts to establish if there are dose response relationships between CWF levels (from 0.5ppm to 1.2ppm) and dental caries, or between CWF levels and […]
Health-promoting interventions in prisons
The HRB conducted a review to determine which health-promoting interventions should be considered for implementation in Irish adult prisons in order to improve prisoners’ physical and mental well-being. This was an overview of reviews that assessed previously conducted systematic reviews of primary research studies. The review examined eight categories of interventions: Sports- and exercise-based interventions […]
Prevalence of problematic opioid use in Ireland, 2020–2022
This report presents the findings from a study that aimed to estimate the prevalence of problematic opioid use in Ireland from 2020 to 2022 utilising a four-source capture-recapture methodology. The analysis incorporated three data sources from opioid substitution treatment (OST) records obtained from the Central Treatment List (CTL), which includes clinics, general practitioners (GPs), and […]
