Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses from the three organisations.

I totally support a ban and have done so for some considerable time. Ireland is recognised worldwide as a sporting nation despite its small population. Historically, because of its surplus cash the drinks industry has been able to use organisations such as those here today as a sort of cover. It gives the industry some respectability, because it treats alcohol as a harmless substance like Ballygowan. Several people have mentioned the dilemma posed by the drinks industry's support of the three codes here because it does not contribute to additional sales for the brands. I agree but that is not what the drinks industry is up to. In the 1990s the French Government exposed the issue and took its decision. The same happened in Spain. No other industry in this country can compare with the drinks industry which is so lucrative because it has so much cash.

People argue that people's drinking habits have changed and more drink wine but we do not see wine producers sponsoring sport. Wine drinking has been on the increase since the introduction of cheap flights and we discovered we could be trendy and drink wine. When the consumption of wine starts to go down we will see whether the producers will be prepared to get involved in sponsorship.

There is a great difficulty, not just for sportsmen and the organisations here today, but for us as legislators although it costs the taxpayer €3.4 billion annually. Imagine the standard of living Irish people would have if they did not have to fork out €3.4 billion for policing, accident and emergency services, court hearings, etc. To quote a former Taoiseach, we would be the richest country in the world. We have a real difficulty with alcohol. It is the national drug. We have difficulty saying this and owning up to it. As legislators we have not been good at doing anything about it. People have spoken about obesity caused by people eating too much take-away food and chocolate. I have never in my life heard of a man over-consuming chocolate and going home and beating up his wife or going onto the street after over-consuming take-away food and beating up gardaí or his neighbour or whoever. We have a difficulty here and the drinks industry gets cover which I think should be taken away. Then we should move on to dealing with the real issues. We have an obsession with talking about under-age drinking. There is under-age drinking but there is also over-age drinking and I speak as one who consumes alcohol. It is the national drug. I enjoy my alcohol but I do not make a full-time job of it and I do not think anyone else should.