Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Ian O'Sullivan and Ms Eimear Murphy to the joint committee and thank them for their presentation. I congratulate them on winning the BT Young Scientist competition. I include in my congratulations their parents, school and all those who supported them in this endeavour. The research they have produced is, to say the least, disappointing from the point of view of parents. In some aspects, it is shocking and highlights for parents and committee members their responsibility when it comes to under-age drinking and over-indulgence in alcohol. One of the telling paragraphs in the presentation is at the end and it puts the whole thing in a nutshell. Referring to the Oireachtas, the presentation states:

It has the opportunity to save 88 lives every month which are currently lost to an alcohol related disease. It has the opportunity to protect vulnerable children affected by their parent's alcohol consumption as seen in every community across the country. It has the opportunity to make a difference.

I hope we will make the difference, in particular, in the legislation we discussed earlier this morning. I also hope the presentation, of which the Minister is aware, will feed into the legislation and ensure we will have strong laws in place that will be policed and effective. I further hope the Minister will take into account the banning of sports sponsorship and question of online advertising. I thank Mr. O'Sullivan and Ms Murphy for their presentation and again say, "Well done."