There was a 10% increase in the number of women seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addiction in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.
The figure is from Coolmine Therapeutic Communities (CTC) in Dublin, which treated 1,394 people in the year to April.
Alcohol remains the main substance that people seek treatment for, with cocaine following close behind.
The drug surpasses alcohol in a number of regions, including Dublin.
One of those who sought treatment at Coolmine for substance addiction is Anna Hanbury, a mother of two who has been in recovery for almost two and a half years.
"It's very easy for anybody to fall into addiction. It's easier to order drink and drugs to your house than it is to order a take away.
"For me, it started off with social drinking and escalated out of control. Then, I started using drugs when I'd go out with the girls from work.
"I split up from a long-term partner, who I had two children with, and my life just went off the rails."
The Department of Health reported almost 5,300 cases of treatment for cocaine use in 2024, up from just under 3,800 in 2017.
However, Anna said the societal perception of drug use is different for men and women:
"It's very common for women to use drugs, but I think it's more socially acceptable for men to use drugs.
"I think women hide it more because they have children. There's a lot of stigma around mothers in addiction.
"It's a major fear as a women that your children will be taken off you and everybody will turn their back on you and kind of shame you.
"It's a major barrier for women coming into treatment and admitting that they have a problem and they need help.
"Your biggest fear is Tusla - the child and family agency - or the courts will get involved. You think that your children are just going to be taken off you. But that's really not the case.
"I got joint custody of my eight year old and I have a 17 year old as well, she's back living with me now full time. So, with hard work, everything is starting to fall back into place."
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Some 40% of CTC service users identify alcohol as their substance of addiction. Cocaine is just behind it at 30% and in some regions, such as Dublin, these figures are flipped with cocaine leading the way.
Deputy Head of Services Anita Harris said that attitudes towards drug use are particularly concerning.
"Over the past number of years, we've seen the continued increase in cocaine use. Post-Covid, we've seen the rise in that really significantly.
"We were seeing in a lot of our men presenting for treatment traditionally, but what we've seen over the last two years is that cocaine is now the top drug for which women are now seeking treatment.
"It's the most normalised drug use I have ever seen. The difference between cocaine and other drugs is that it’s not concentrated in certain specific populations.
"In the case of ecstasy or ketamine, for example, mainly young people use them, so they are very much confined to that party, festival scene. Then you have heroin, crack cocaine and street tablets, they would be very concentrated in disadvantaged areas.
"What we have with cocaine is that it's across every area. There is no sociodemographic group associated with it and there's no age range.
"It has become a socially acceptable drug because even someone that's not using cocaine, but knows people who do, consider those people OK, because they don't seem to have wrecked their lives.
"But they don’t see the absolute destruction that is happening to people that are becoming addicted to it and the lives that are ruined."
The Department of Health said that, in 2024, it provided €830,000 in funding for women with complex needs to reduce drug-related harm and premature deaths among that group.
Between 2022 and 2023, the department said, it provided €1.35 million in recurring funding for services to reduce the harm caused by cocaine and 'crack’ cocaine use.
Aodhan McAuley, who availed of treatment at CTC, has been in recovery for over nine months.
"I started drinking when I was 16. Around 17 or 18, my drug use progressed from cocaine to ecstasy. I wasn't drinking and having drugs. I was taking drugs and just having a drink.
"The impact that had on me was broken down relationships, family members not wanting to speak to me, losing people that you really care about."
Aodhan, a father of two, said that his children inspired him to seek treatment for his addictions.
"I made the decision to come into recovery and I got in in November. It's about taking it seriously. I went to all lengths and costs to get drugs so I can go to all lengths and costs to be clean and stay clean.
"I have two beautiful kids so I have a great purpose. If I'm well, my kids are well. I came in on the 26th of November, a month before Christmas. I was away for Christmas and their birthdays.
"But I just kept telling myself, I won’t be here next Christmas."
