Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----which includes the subject of tonight's motion although it goes far beyond that.

In the few moments available to me, I will confine my remarks to the subject of alcohol abuse.

We have a longstanding unhealthy relationship with alcohol in this country and it is therefore more difficult to address than many of the problems with which we are confronted. A few facts should make it clear to everyone in this House that we must wake up to this problem. For example, in our country one person dies from alcohol-related causes every seven hours. By this time tomorrow another three people will have died. One in four deaths among young men is due to alcohol and alcohol is the cause of twice as many deaths in Ireland as all other drugs combined. Alcohol-related deaths doubled between 1995 and 2004. The cost of alcohol to our health system is €1.2 billion per annum. At this stage I believe most people know that 2,000 hospital beds are occupied at any given time to treat alcohol-related injuries and illnesses. According to the Garda PULSE system alcohol is a contributory factor in 97% of public order offences. The total cost of alcohol-related crime is €1.2 billion. Any one of these statistics on its own should be enough to provoke action. Taken together they show that our society is crying out for a comprehensive Bill to tackle alcohol abuse. There are many more damning statistics which show that we have a major problem with alcohol. I welcome that the new Minister of State has already committed to introduce an alcohol Bill as soon as possible.

It is vital to tackle the abuse of alcohol on an all-island basis. Conversations are taking place between Department of Health officials and their counterparts in Northern Ireland. If we are to tackle issues such as below-cost selling, there needs to be uniformity on both sides of the Border in order to deliver more effective resolutions. The time for talk is over; it is time for action.

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