Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of the GAA, the FAI and the IRFU to the committee and recognise the vital role they play in regard to sport, particularly for young people. In regard to the alcohol strategy, the report from the steering group stated that the drinks industry sponsorship of sport should be phased out by 2016 and that in the intervening years it should not be increased. It gives some compelling reasons such as that the average age of first alcohol use in children has dropped from the age of 15 to 14, that one in five 16 year olds is a weekly drinker, that four out of ten in the 16 to 21 year old category wear alcohol branded clothing and that in 2007 alcohol related illnesses cost €1.2 billion and alcohol related crime cost €1.9 billion. What does one say to the argument that the alcohol sponsorship of sport is primarily designed to the building of brand presence and to retaining and increasing the market share? That is the rationale for alcohol sponsorship.