Dr. Bobby Smyth:

I thank the joint committee for giving us the opportunity to meet it. We have a major problem with the consumption of alcohol which kills 1,200 people per year in Ireland. Some 2,000 Irish people are in hospital beds today owing to alcohol use. The harm generated by alcohol is felt not just by drinkers but also by those around them. Some 10% of Irish children say their lives have been adversely affected by their parents' drinking.

More starkly, it is estimated that parental drinking accounts for one sixth of all cases of child abuse and neglect. How strange these innocent victims of our drinking culture must find it looking into an Ireland that chooses to bombard them with positive images of alcohol, linking it with fun, social success and sporting prowess. Alcohol Action Ireland was one of a vast number of stakeholders represented on the national substance misuse strategy steering group. Like committee members, that group recognised that this was a complex health and social problem, with many factors influencing consumption and, therefore, requiring a multi-pronged approach. Today we are discussing in isolation just one of the dozens of recommendations made in that report. There is a danger that we will fail to see the big picture.

In addition to making changes to pricing and availability to apply a brake on Ireland's runaway drinking culture, we must also take our foot off the accelerator. Alcohol promotion via advertising and sponsorship acts as that accelerator. While common sense tells us that sponsorship promotes consumption, with typical arrogance, the alcohol industry and those in receipt of its money demand that we provide them with evidence that it does. It is this multi-billion euro industry that should be required to provide proof. If they have proof that alcohol sponsorship does nothing to increase alcohol-related harm or drinking by adolescents, Alcohol Action Ireland would have no issue with this activity.

Although the recession has caused per capitaconsumption to fall slightly, Irish adult drinkers still consume, on average, the equivalent of one bottle of whiskey per man and woman per week. This average consumption is well into the range of hazardous drinking, using WHO definitions. The My World survey in 2012 demonstrated that the majority of young Irish men grew up to use alcohol in a manner that was harmful to their health. Again, this information is based on on the World Health Organization's AUDIT screening instrument. With 72,000 babies born each year, it is our view that this country now functions as a conveyor belt, producing very heavy drinkers, each of whom generates great profits for the alcohol industry.

The sports in receipt of the bulk of drink industry money are rugby, soccer and Gaelic games. These sports are typically played by young men aged 15 to 29 years. Young men tend to be healthy. The two biggest causes of death among young men are suicide and accidents. We all know that alcohol commonly has a role in accidents. We also know from Irish research that it is a contributory factor in half of all suicides and that the majority of young men who kill themselves are drunk at the time. Overall, it is estimated that alcohol is responsible for one in every four deaths among young males aged 15 to 29 years. There is noproduct on the planet that causes more deaths and social problems in young men. We believe, therefore, that there is no product on the planet that could more inappropriately be promoted by sports organisations. In terms of the harm experienced by the demographic who play these sports, it would make more sense to allow them to be sponsored by tobacco companies, as cigarettes tend to kill old people.

The age of onset of drinking is typically around 15 years. During the next 12 months 60,000 children will start drinking. Therefore, during the next five years 300,000 Irish children will commence their drinking careers. Because they are going to grow up to be among the heaviest drinkers on earth by the time they are 20 years old, it is they who are the real targets of alcohol advertising and sponsorship. From a business perspective, it is vital to establish brand awareness and, ideally, brand loyalty prior to children commencing drinking. As was pointed out last weekend by a former president of the GAA, through our ridiculously lax advertising and sponsorship guidelines, we facilitate the drinks industry to groom children in the interests of profit to become the next generation of hard and heavy Irish drinkers.