Addiction and homeless charity Merchants Quay reports 54pc increase in meals it provides

It has also seen an increase in the number of people accessing its services for the tenth year running.

The charity provided 66,126 meals in 2023, a year in which 13,516 individuals sought support from the charity compared to 12,764 the previous year.

"The stark reality is that MQI have seen an increase in the numbers of people looking for support every year of the past decade," said CEO of MQI Eddie Mullins as part of the report launch.

"More and more people are now homeless for longer as they have less options, this in turn has a devastating impact on people's mental health, physical health and can cause addiction to spiral. There is little doubt that easier access to more recovery services is essential.

"The opening of the Medically Supervised Injection Facility this year signals a significant shift in society's understanding that addiction is a health issue and requires a health-led response. While this is an important step forward, we still have a long way to go. Recovery is only possible if people can access the services they need, when they need them.

"At present, there are simply not enough recovery and detox beds available to meet the demand," he added, making reference to the first such supervised injecting facility that is currently under construction and due to open by the end of the year."

Launching MQI's annual report, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke, said he has visited MQI and witnessed first-hand the wide range of compassionate services offered, from hot meals to family support, to addiction treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare.

"I am fully committed to ensuring that a person-centred approach to reducing harm and supporting recovery will continue to be at the core of Ireland's drug policy going forward. In line with our health-led approach, I look forward to the opening of the medically supervised injecting facility in MQI, which will reduce the harms associated in injecting drug use and help to save the lives of people who use drugs," he added.

In 2023, over 3,100 people were supported by the MQI harm reduction team, and 123 people were admitted to detox and rehab services. The report also shows an increase in those presenting as homeless which resulted in 3,928 crisis support interventions being provided from the charity's Riverbank centre.

Recently MQI revealed that more than one person a day is dying from overdose in Ireland, more than double the number of people dying on our roads.

Using the latest available figures from the Health Research Board, MQI said that in 2020 there were 409 overdose related deaths.

In the same year there were 146 deaths on the roads.

In four out of ten poisoning deaths the person was alone, and 11pc died in homeless accommodation. Nine percent died in a public place or building.

Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, CEO Eddie Mullins added that demand for addiction services has increased every year for a decade.

"The demand out there in the community is enormous for people who have really complex needs. The investment that is in recovery and detox is simply not enough to meet the demand," he said.

"Last year 123 people went through our detox and recovery programmes and for the most part they are living normal lives now, they have reconnected family members, rebuilt their lives and they see a future, they have hope."

Mr Mullins praised Merchant's Quay staff for "the commitment and the empathy and the compassion" they show every day but the reality is addiction services cost money to operate.

"In the current economic climate where the Government are running record Budget surpluses, we're asking the Minister to put a tiny amount of that into recovery, detox and residential treatment programmes for people, because it works. The return on investment will be profound.

"Every little additional amount that's set aside for probably the most vulnerable people in our society, and I'm always conscious when we're looking for more that there are lots of causes out there and there are lots of people struggling with issues and our services are no different.

"But we do see every day when people are given the right support and when they are supported through the recovery journey, we see the difference it makes for their lives and their families. It has a huge impact on society as well."

Mr Mullins said demand for services is increasing every day and there is "a severe shortage" of services and even if one facility at St Francis Farm in Co Carlow doubled the number of beds it provides, it still wouldn't be able to meet demand.

"The journey that people go on, it's a long journey and it's lifelong in many respects so supports are required for a long period of time to help a person," he said.