DRUG REHAB PROJECT HAS POSITIVE RESULTS

Improved and increased cooperation between the business and the voluntary
sectors could transform the drug-users of today into the taxpayers of
tomorrow, a European-funded project has concluded.

The final report from the Integra project, "From Residential Treatment to
Employment", was published at the Merchants' Quay Project in Dublin
yesterday. Merchants' Quay is the largest voluntary drug treatment centre
in the State.

The two-year project was initiated as a result of a gap in drug treatment
services identified by Merchants' Quay. It aimed to develop a programme
which would minimise the risk of recovering addicts relapsing.

Two of the main factors which made drug users who had completed residential
treatment more at risk of going back to drug-use were "the lack of
employment opportunities and access to secure accommodation", the report says.

The programme, which was supported by SIPTU and IBEC, saw local employers
"recruited" to a "bank" from which recovering users could get employment.
Some 49 drug-users took part between 1998 and 1999, with 65 per cent
completing the programme.

Upon completion of the programme, 94 per cent of clients said they had
learned new skills, 83 per cent said they had secured the opportunity of
full-time employment, while 47 per cent rated their chances of remaining
drug free as "very good".

The director of Merchants' Quay, Mr Tony Geoghegan, said the programme was
"very successful in demonstrating that former drug users can make a
significant contribution to business and industry."