Addiction treatment is a missed savings opportunity for Ireland, says Smarmore Castle

Clinicians highlight evidence that addiction treatment cuts costs across hospitals, justice and workplaces – and urge policymakers, insurers and employers to use residential care as an economic tool, not a discretionary extra.

Smarmore Castle, one of Ireland’s leading residential addiction treatment providers, is calling on policymakers, insurers and employers to treat residential addiction care as a core part of Ireland’s economic strategy rather than a niche clinical expense.

The economic case for treatment in Ireland, Keith Cassidy, Executive Director, argues, is already clear. Ireland is paying the price of addiction across acute hospitals, prisons, lost productivity and alcohol‑related disease, yet much of that cost sits outside the addiction budget and is still poorly counted.

Smarmore Castle believes that part of the answer lies in how addiction is still perceived, including how treatment itself is understood. “We talk about cancer, heart disease and mental health as unavoidable health challenges,” clinicians say, “but addiction is often framed as a personal weakness or lifestyle choice. When a condition is moralised, it becomes easier to accept the cost of crisis care and harder to invest in the structured treatment that actually changes outcomes.”

Cassidy notes that much of the visible spend on addiction is tied to maintenance and crisis responses, such as daily methadone, rather than structured, abstinence‑based residential care that supports long‑term recovery.

He stresses that most addiction treatment currently delivered is outpatient in nature. “A large portion of care happens in outpatient and day‑programme settings”.

There is a lot of good work being done there, and we absolutely support it. But residential treatment brings a different level of intensity and structure, and we need greater support around it. We want to see a greater emphasis on residential treatment as an appropriate treatment option.

For Smarmore Castle, residential treatment is not just a clinical preference but an economic lever.
“Intensive, abstinence‑based residential treatment can give people a strong head start in their recovery journey,” Cassidy says. “Residential treatment offers the opportunity to intensively work on learning to stay safe, use relapse‑prevention strategies and stabilise their mental and physical health. That reduces repeat crises, emergency department attendances and unplanned hospital admissions. It is good medicine and good value.”

Cassidy argues that residential care should be considered for a broader group of people, not just those at the most visible margins. “You don’t have to be at the most chronic stages of addiction to access residential treatment,” clinicians note. “It is for everybody whose addiction is seriously affecting their life, their work and their relationships. We want to promote the importance of residential care as a mainstream option, not an extreme last resort.”

Smarmore’s clinicians also point to international evidence that structured addiction treatment delivers strong returns on investment when wider health, social and judicial costs are considered. “Cost‑benefit analyses from other countries show that every unit of currency spent on effective addiction treatment can yield multiple times that amount back in reduced healthcare use, lower crime and improved productivity,” Cassidy explained. “Our own experience at Smarmore is that people in stable recovery go on to contribute more to their families, workplaces and communities.”

Smarmore Castle also emphasises the role of twelve‑step mutual‑aid groups in sustaining the benefits of treatment. “Residential programmes give people intensive support,” Cassidy explains, “and then we help them connect with free, community‑based groups such as twelve‑step fellowships so that recovery support continues long after discharge. It means the health system is not paying for every hour of support, but still benefits from better outcomes and lower relapse rates.”

Smarmore Castle’s programme combines medically supervised detox, intensive residential therapy, group work and structured aftercare, underpinned by external CHKS accreditation and ISO 9001 quality certification, alongside contracts for specific pathways with public services. As one of the largest residential addiction programmes of its kind in Ireland, the clinic is well placed to demonstrate how intensive, abstinence‑based care changes outcomes and costs, and is urging policymakers, insurers and employers to integrate residential addiction care more fully into health and economic planning.

“We know Ireland is wrestling with hospital waiting lists, workforce shortages and pressure on health and welfare budgets,” Cassidy concludes. “Investing in effective addiction treatment is one of the most cost-efficient ways to help those suffering with an addiction, their families and society as a whole.”

**ENDS**

About Smarmore Castle

Smarmore Castle is a private residential addiction treatment clinic located near Ardee, County Louth, Ireland, approximately 45 minutes north of Dublin and 90 minutes south of Belfast. Founded in 2015, Smarmore Castle provides medically supervised detoxification and residential treatment for alcohol, drug, and behavioural addictions, including gambling. The clinic holds ISO 9001 and CHKS accreditations.

www.smarmorecastle.ie

Smarmore Castle is part of Castle Health, a group of specialist addiction treatment providers operating across the UK and Europe.

Media enquiries
Lauren Meek|Content Coordinator|l.meek@smarmorecastle.ie|+353 (0) 41 986 5080

Notes to editors
Keith Cassidy is Executive Director at Smarmore Castle Private Clinic and is available for further comment or interview. Contact: k.cassidy@smarmorecastle.ie