Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I extend sincere congratulations to Mr. Ian O'Sullivan and Ms Eimear Murphy on their wonderful achievement in the BT Young Scientist Competition in 2015. This is a great credit to both of them and to their school in Kanturk. I congratulate the teaching staff and all involved. The presentation was excellent and, as they indicated, as legislators we have an opportunity to make an impact. The witnesses were in the visitors' area during the earlier session. We all committed to ensuring the passage of the proposed legislation even though we have varying degrees of confidence, or a lack of confidence, in some of the measures. The critical point made by the Minister is that this will be up for review after three years. That is where we have the opportunity to measure its effectiveness. It is down to its effectiveness, which we will debate and discuss. It is a good thing to have a variety of views reflected here.

I am interested in the correlation between hazardous drinking habits in young people or adolescents and hazardous drinking habits in their parents. There are a number of statements about this likelihood. One of the figures is that 34% of adults surveyed displayed hazardous drinking patterns, representing 39.6% of males and 29.9% of females. The witnesses went on to state that 47% of all parents surveyed were hazardous drinkers. Did the witnesses extrapolate a percentage for the relationship between the young males, the young females and the parents with hazardous drinking habits? The figures are not included in the presentation. Do the witnesses have the figures? If they do not have them readily available to answer the question, I fully understand. Perhaps it can be furnished us in the future. I am curious to know, of the hazardous-drinking parents, how many of the young males with hazardous drinking habits came from those families, and equally for the females.

It is a very telling point. There are all sorts of possible outcomes. I know many young people who have experienced, or are experiencing, difficulties in their home environments because one or both parents drink. They would be very much opposed to the use of alcohol, never mind its abuse. There are varying degrees of reaction, down to the individual make-up of the young person, the degree of their exposure and its impact on the quality of life in the home. What were the witnesses’ findings in that relationship quotient, as it applied to parents and the young males and females concerned? I thank the witnesses and congratulate them on their success, and I wish them every success in their future studies and career paths.