Dr. Tony Holohan:

We are talking about the health risk associated with alcohol. It is a reality that the distribution across society of the burden of alcohol consumption is not even and falls disproportionately on lower social classes. It is exactly the same as for all the major lifestyle-related risks, such as tobacco consumption, physical activity and obesity. That then finds expression in patterns that we are all too familiar with. We see that the burden of chronic disease falls disproportionately on people in lower social classes. That is a result of the way in which alcohol consumption is distributed.

The other point that is relevant in the context of consumption patterns is that, of our figure of approximately 11 litres of alcohol purchased per year, which comes from Revenue statistics, the greater portion is purchased in off-licences rather than the on-trade. Most alcohol that is consumed in this population is purchased in the off-trade. The pattern of drinking among young people, with their limited income, is significantly facilitated by having access to cheap alcohol and their pattern of purchasing is to buy cheap alcohol from large multiples rather than in pubs.