Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for their very informative presentations and apologise on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, who cannot be here.

Our relationship with and abuse of alcohol is the cause of most social problems in the country. The impacts on our health and health services are detrimental. The reality is that young Irish adults drink more than any other segment of the population and it is they who are most open to marketing, be it through sports event or socialising. It is no coincidence, therefore, that there is a link.

The banning of outdoor advertising of alcohol is possibly the only workable solution, as in the absence of a ban, it is not easy to protect minors. I refer to the point on banning outdoor advertising within 100 m of a school. The Department of Health was to draw up a list, but I do not know if it was ever done. Such a ban might be hard to implement, but banning adverts within 100 m of the school gate would be better than having them located straight across the road. In my constituency there is an off licence just across the main road from a national school. I am sure it would be better if it was not allowed to be located there.

It has been mentioned that between 1990 and 2006 there was a fivefold increase in the number of off licences. Were there increases during the recession or has the number decreased? Is there any evidence that the increase in the numbers of Aldi and Lidl outlets, offering cheaper alcohol, has led to an increase in alcohol consumption among young people?

The presentation made by Dr. Patrick Kenny was very good as he completely broke down what advertising was about. The part to which I am attracted is social media marketing which is not even on our radar. It seeks to attract younger people and we may not even realise it is being done, but it is harder to regulate. It is something of which we need to take particular note.

I also took an interest in the last point made by Dr. Kenny and I am wondering if anybody else has a comment to make on it. He stated the alcohol industry might wish to explain how it could simultaneously maintain that the tens of millions of euro spent in promoting alcohol would not lead to increased drinking but that the one or two million euro spent in promoting safe drinking would lead to less drinking. He said it was hard to reconcile two such contradictory positions. I agree and wonder if anyone else has an opinion on the matter.

In its presentation the Association of Advertisers in Ireland states Ireland has the strictest and most comprehensive set of codes in the world governing the placement of the advertising of alcohol and sponsorship. That is great, but how come we still have a huge issue with alcohol abuse and under-age drinking if that is the case? The codes might be the strictest, but they are obviously not working.

Under-age drinking is an issue I have raised on a number of occasions. Anybody can walk into an off licence at the age of 18 years and buy whatever amount of drink he or she wants. It was put to me at some point - I think this is a great idea - that the age limit to buy alcohol in an off licence should be raised to 21 years, while the age at which people could buy drink in pubs would be left at 18. The reasoning behind this is we have a huge problem with bush drinking. People in the age group of 21 to 23 years are less likely to supply drink for 15, 16 and 17 year olds than an 18 year old because of the age gap. Do the delegates have an opinion on this?