Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not have a headset so I hope everybody can hear me. The presentation was really interesting and I, like others, would love to have had more time to listen and get a bit more detail. The witnesses are doing phenomenal work so I thank them for that. I am particularly interested in the treatment of alcohol harm. I worked closely with others on the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 and alcohol has had major public health implications in Ireland. The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions. These include diseases like liver cirrhosis, heart disease and cancers. Three people per day die from alcohol-related issues, amounting to 88 deaths per month or 1,000 per year. There are 900 people in Ireland diagnosed with alcohol-related cancers each year, which is quite shocking, and 500 people die from these diseases each year. One in eight breast cancers is alcohol-related. That may only be the tip of the iceberg. One in every two pedestrians killed on the road dies as a result of an incident involving drink-driving.

There is a major cost to health arising from alcohol. Alcohol-related discharges from hospitals cost the Exchequer €1.5 billion in 2012, which is quite shocking.

I have another question after my next one and it, too, will be on alcohol. From Sláintecare's point of view, what will be put in place? There is a lot of focus on obesity, which is fantastic. The question of eating disorders also needs to be examined. What can be put in place to deal with the major impact of alcohol harm on public health? I am concerned that alcohol harm done to family members of alcohol abusers is not often visible. It can have very serious consequences for the safety and well-being of family members. Children in particular are very vulnerable. Alcohol is a significant contributor to child neglect, for example. Parental drinking has been identified as a key child welfare issue. It contributes to many assaults, including sexual assaults, and rape, domestic violence and manslaughter. It can go on and on. One thousand five hundred beds are taken up every day because of alcohol-related harm. I did not hear anything about this. Does it fall under mental health services? Where does it fit in?