Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply. There are two sectors involved in this. One is at national level, which the Minister outlined in regard to the national governing bodies. However, there is also a major problem at grassroots level whereby clubs are sponsored by public houses, inns etc., in their own area. There is an onus on clubs sponsored by such sources, regardless of the sport involved, to have their members return to them following their sporting activities. Members feel obliged to frequent the establishments that give them the most sponsorship. As 25% of deaths on our roads have been related to drink driving problems, it is with the grassroots level of sponsorship I have major concerns.

Will the Minister do something about this? We have had the report from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children to which the major bodies signed up. However, it has not reached the grassroots level where the major problem exists. I attend many sporting events and people appear to feel obliged to return to the club that sponsors the sport. This creates a problem after such events, because young people travel to the pub and drive home afterwards. I tabled the question to explore whether something could be done about this. Is there funding available to help to alleviate or redirect the clubs from drink related sources of sponsorship?

See this speech in context