Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 85: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of people who have died from the use of cocaine and ecstasy tablets each year from 2006 to date in 2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29127/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The information which the Deputy has sought on the number of people who have died from the use of cocaine and ecstasy tablets in 2006 and to date in 2007 is not available. The General Mortality Register, the main source of information on drug–related deaths prior to the establishment of the National Drug Related Deaths Index in 2005, shows that there were 9 cocaine-only deaths in 2004 — the latest year for which data is available. The Coroner's Service is dealing with a backlog of inquests many of which go back to 2004. The coding system used in the General Mortality Register to classify cocaine-related deaths does not allow one to extract deaths where cocaine is combined with other drugs, therefore the above figure is an underestimate of cocaine-related deaths. In relation to ecstasy-related deaths, there is no individual code in the General Mortality Register to identify ecstasy-related deaths.

The statistics in the General Mortality Register are collected by the Central Statistics Office which measures — as it is required to do — direct drug-related deaths based on an international classification system. It does not have a reliable measure of deaths which are indirectly related to drug use and so does not provide the full picture of drug-related deaths. For example a death through an infectious disease contracted through drug use may not feature in the General Mortality Register as drug-related. To remedy these limitations, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform jointly asked the Health Research Board to establish a National Drug-Related Deaths Index.

This index was established to comply with Action 67 of 'Building on Experience: National Drug Strategy 2001-2008'. The index is a census of drug and alcohol-related deaths and deaths among substance users in Ireland which is one of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction's (EMCDDA) key indicators to measure the consequences of the drug situation. The data for the Index is drawn from a number of sources including the General Mortality Register; the Coroner's Service; the Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE); and the Central Treatment List.

A committee, co-chaired by the two above-mentioned Departments, provides general and technical advice on the development of the index. The index will produce its first report in September 2008. The index will ascertain the exact contribution of each type of illicit drug to deaths in Ireland.