New figures show at least one person dies in Ireland each day due to drug and alcohol overdose.

A report from the Health Research Board for 2013 shows there were 387 fatal overdose cases.

Director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Tony Duffin, said each case of a fatal overdose is “one family’s devastating tragedy.

"In the five year period 2009 to 2013 over 1,500 people have died by overdose across Ireland. We must implement policies that will help reduce the number of deaths each year," he added.

The battle to reduce overdoes deaths will require "an extraordinary effort, " Duffin said.

The Ana Liffey Drug Project has called for the introduction of supervised injection centres previously - and have backed plans from Minister Aodhán O'Ríordáin to introduce the rooms in Dublin.

In a statement released today the group say that nobody has ever died of an overdose in a supervised injection centre - where a person can be quickly accessed by medical staff in the event of accidental overdose.

Alcohol poisoning alone claimed one life per week.

The board says 60 per cent of those who died had taken a mixture of drugs - with the sue of 'poly-drugs' up 98 per cent since recording began in 2004.

Heroin deaths are on the increase, with one in five of fatalities linked to the drug.