A crisis in the treatment of heroin addicts is helping to fuel a dramatic upsurge in burglaries across the country.
Drug addicts in large swathes of the country are facing a waiting list of more than a year before gaining access to treatment.
An Irish Independent investigation has found that heroin addicts in several areas outside Dublin, who want to be stabilised on methadone, are struggling to find a clinic or GP to take them on.
It comes as the number of heroin addicts across the country has grown from 16,000 to 21,000 in the past five years.
Much of the growth has been in cities such as Waterford, Limerick and Cork, fuelling an alarming spate of burglaries and thefts outside the capital.
Latest figures show that burglaries jumped by 7.9pc last year, compared with 2010, rising to a total of 27,439 offences.
Source: Eilish O'Regan and Tom Brady, Irish Independent, 28/05/12
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