"The public can sometimes object to drug users being paid money not to use drugs, but international experience has shown that it can work," said Bobby Smyth, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist behind the pilot programme.

"This project is different in so far as we are trying to make these young people feel good about themselves by donating money to charity."

"In many cases, teenagers who use drugs come from troubled backgrounds and suffer from low self-esteem."

"When they give money to charity, it creates a feel-good factor."

"It helps to give them confidence and a purpose in life."

Participants in the pilot were given nominal amounts of money for seeking treatment -- €1 for every urine test passed and €10 a week for attending counselling sessions.

Successful participants were then able to select charities of their choice to receive donations from the programme.

In total, €3,115 was raised by nine teenagers for a range of charities including the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC), The Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation, and the Temple Street Children’s University hospital in Dublin.

As well as the money raised, participants benefited from an increase in their own self worth.

“The clients who committed themselves to the programme seemed to get a lot out of it," said Smyth.

"We used a number of psychological measures to look at changes in their wellbeing during the pilot and we found improvement in all domains, especially in their self-esteem."

"We also found reductions in drug use and successful detox completion."

“I think the teenagers obtained a deep satisfaction from the knowledge that their efforts in addressing their own addictions were going to have benefits for others."

"As far as I am concerned, this project also challenges the stereotype that all drug users are self-centred and don’t care about anyone else."

Sarah, a 16-year-old recovering heroin addict, raised €636 for the ISPCC.

“When I signed up, I decided to send any money that I made to the ISPCC because they are helping young children and that means a lot to me,” she said.

“The ISPCC wrote to me to say thanks for the money."

"It was the first time that I had ever given money away to a good cause."

"It was also the first time that anyone had ever written a letter to thank me for anything, and that meant a lot to me.”