Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

When I speak out about alcohol abuse and cultural attitudes and beliefs regarding alcohol, the first thing I hear is a suggestion that I am trying to take the "party" out of the Labour Party. Those who accuse me of being anti-fun seem to think it is impossible to have fun in this country without being pissed. That kind of mentality is out there. This is not just about the people in this room or the people who work on the front line. Nobody is saying that alcohol should be banned or anything like that. We are not talking about that. We are talking about alcohol abuse. We are talking about very vulnerable people who have access to a very powerful drug for very little money.

This time of year, I always remember a family with whom I worked where the children were removed because the mother had a chronic problem with alcohol. She loved her children very much and really wanted to get better and be a good mother. I remember bringing her on an access visit which went really well. It was coming up to Christmas and the tree was up in the foster parents' home. We had a really lovely visit but she was really upset leaving her children. She got back into the car and she knew the reason I took her children was because of her alcohol abuse. She asked me to stop at the shop to get a tag for her bin but she went in, bought six cans of beer and got into the car beside me knowing that I would see it and have to make a report. That is the kind of grip that alcohol has on families. I am not saying everybody has to be punished because some people cannot cope with it but there is a prevailing attitude where social workers, gardaí and everybody else is afraid to talk about it because they are afraid people will say "but sure you go to the pub every Saturday night." It is not about that. It is about the corrosive grip that it exerts on very vulnerable people for very little money but at huge cost. Cocaine, heroin and hash get all the headlines. It is just a convenience for us to ignore alcohol. I again thank Dr. Shannon for his No. 1 message from his report. The cost has been huge. It has resulted in the death of children.