Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

According to reports by tribunals of inquiry and by the Comptroller and Auditor General the Government has given rise to some incredible litanies of mismanagement, misspending and sheer waste. I speak not only of the waste of money but also of the waste of human life.

The Tánaiste, as Minister for Health and Children, is aware of the report on alcohol misuse by young people, published in June 2004 by the Joint Committee on Health and Children. She is aware too of a strategic report on the same issue. According to the report of 2004, the cost of alcohol abuse is €2.4 billion per annum. The report states that 80% of this cost could be prevented if public policy measures were in place, and includes a list of policy recommendations.

Is the Tánaiste serious about any of these recommendations, particularly the key points? The Tánaiste's predecessor saw the light after years of strong but ineffective messages on cigarette packets, and introduced measures to control smoking. Does the Tánaiste accept that education makes little or no difference in regard to abuse of alcohol and that the environment must be shaped to control alcohol consumption?

Will the Tánaiste reverse her decision to abandon the alcohol products Bill and act on her predecessor's recommendation to introduce that legislation? Will she advise the Government to introduce random testing as the previous Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, promised? Will she implement the recommendations in the committee report, rather than the voluntary code? What is going on between her and the drinks industry that is so set on this code, which we know will make little or no difference?

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