Improved and increased co-operation 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".
