Nearly two-thirds of admissions to the Rutland Centre, the addiction treatment clinic, are from people with multiple addictions, according to its annual report.
Some 64 per cent of people admitted to the centre, which has been providing treatment for addicts in Dublin over the last 46 years, presented with multiple addictions last year.
Of those, 59 per cent had an addiction to alcohol, 40 per cent to cocaine and 44 per cent to other illicit drugs.
Some 15 per cent reported gambling as one of at least two addictions, 13 per cent said they were addicted to sex or pornography and 9 per cent to food or eating.
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Just over 17 per cent of all those who reported to the Rutland Clinic last year had three or more addictions.
The Health Research Board found that almost one in three alcohol-treatment cases recorded in 2025 involved problem use of another drug. Among those cases, cocaine was the most common additional drug, reported in 72 per cent of cases.
Rutland Centre head of clinical services Emma Kavanagh said people who arrived into the centre rarely did so with one issue in isolation.
“We are increasingly treating co-morbid problems involving alcohol, cocaine, other substances and behavioural addictions, often alongside trauma, mental-health concerns and significant pressure within families,” she said.
“Treatment must be able to respond to the whole person rather than addressing each problem separately.
“That requires specialist clinical expertise and a range of treatment options that can meet people at different stages of addiction and recovery.”
Of those with a single addiction, alcohol was by far the most common (71 per cent) followed by gambling (14 per cent), sex and/or pornography (7 per cent) and cocaine (5 per cent).
The centre delivered 5,545 bed nights in 2025, an increase of 21 per cent since 2021. It also answered 16,345 phone calls last year.
The findings come as the latest Health Research Board data recorded 15,422 treatment cases for problem drug use, excluding alcohol, in 2025 – an increase of 2,127, or 16 per cent, on 2024.
Separate HRB data recorded 8,798 alcohol-treatment cases, the highest annual total in the nine-year period reported.
The Rutland Centre said treatment capacity and long-term recovery supports had to continue to develop in response to changing demand.
The centre reported a 98 per cent completion rate for its residential programme and an 81 per cent completion rate for its outpatient programme in 2025.
Of those who entered the centre’s stabilisation programme following relapse, 52 per cent completed the programme and returned to mainstream continuing care.
More than half of those entering stabilisation completed the programme and returned to mainstream continuing care.
Last year, the centre opened a new five-bed medical detoxification unit for alcohol and cocaine.
The unit opened in October 2025 and provides a medically supervised route to abstinence for people who need detoxification from alcohol or cocaine before beginning primary treatment.
All clients in its initial cohort completed detoxification.
