Dr. Declan Bedford:

We do not see it, but studies have been done by the Health Research Board and other international groups do European-wide studies on the prevalence of intoxicants. Many people, in particular younger people who have not always seen the tragic consequences of addiction, think they can function after a hard night out and will be fine the next day. Overall, it catches up on people. For example, a functional alcoholic might be able to get away with addiction on a day-to-day basis, but alcohol over a lifetime is one of the leading causes of cancer. Some 10% of the cases of breast cancer in women are caused by alcohol. People never think of that. They do not think of all of the other side effects of being a functional alcoholic, such as the expense and the fact they are more likely to get into fights and arguments inside and outside of home.

The evidence is clear from a driving point of view. Any amount of alcohol is detrimental to one's driving. There are alcoholics who have difficulty with driving and have been caught drink-driving. One of the actions in the new national road safety strategy is to examine an interlock system in cars. People would have to breathe into an apparatus in a car and it would not work without the correct result. The evidence is they will work as part of a programme, because the problem with a lot of alcoholics in Ireland is there is no effective treatment service for them. To keep people off alcohol, they have to be part of a treatment service. A working party is examining the use of interlock systems. I am sure when it finishes that work, it will say it will have to be part of a complete rehabilitation programme for alcoholics. People can recover, but too many people fall by the wayside. It is difficult.