Mary White (Fianna Fail)

If we wait until we come back at the end of September to pick this issue up again, we are half asleep. We will not keep momentum on this issue if we wait until September to talk about it. It is the most critical social issue facing the country at the moment. Our country is traumatised by this issue.

I was very pleased with the Taoiseach's response last night after the Cabinet meeting, and I will talk about that later, but we should be at the launch of the Minister of State's report. The people will prove their desire to get delivery of the 21 recommendations to look after children in the future. I will have a more detailed response later.

I draw attention to what Senator Regan said about the number of deaths due to alcohol. New research which was published yesterday by the Royal College of Physicians found that alcohol was responsible for 6,500 deaths from 2000 to 2004. It blamed alcohol for more than 3 million hospitalisations during the same period.

In my document on suicide in the new Ireland, I have three recommendations which deliberately refer to alcohol. I have called for the total abolition of sports sponsorship by companies that make alcohol.