Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Murray for his presentation. We met the other day in room A in Leinster House and I thought his presentation there was excellent as well.

In 1997, I visited Canada and toured there with a choir. Our main stay was in British Columbia, and we were taken aback by the fact that in most places we sang people were poor and had drinking problems. One of the biggest problems out there at the time was, and probably still is, the native Indians, who were at the worst end of the scale for alcoholism and everything else. Historically, people would say that land was bought for a bottle of whiskey back in the Wild West times. It was a real experience travelling around, but when we got deeper into parts where native Indians were still living, we found that alcohol consumption was huge and there was plenty of trouble around it.

A few things hopped off the page. Deputy Ó Caoláin mentioned the number of beds being used at night, which has doubled in 20 years. Anytime we have discussed alcoholism, most people have said this is at crisis point.

I am always surprised at airports to see that although, when boarding a flight, we are asked to use travel packs of toothpaste and deodorant, on the way back, people can bring in litres of vodka and other alcoholic drinks which sometimes go completely undetected. That needs to be looked at in airports, particularly from a security viewpoint.

I want to ask Professor Murray about foetal alcohol syndrome in young babies or children. I have dealt with many long-term foster parents and adoptive parents, and one of the issues that has arisen recently concerns children with foetal alcohol syndrome. It does not become apparent until they are three years of age or older, yet difficulties have arisen because of that. One parent told me that her 13-year-old child was never told at school how important it is not to drink when one is pregnant because it can affect the baby. Education in this regard is the key in schools, although some people disagree.

I do not have any more questions. I found Professor Murray's document very interesting. What is the most important recommendation he would make concerning this Bill?