Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the reply of the Minister of State and his commitment to legislate for minimum pricing of alcohol. I have some final points. Where alcohol consumption was known, almost 90% of defendants in rape trials had been binge drinking. Ten percent of all reported cases involved a complainant who was incapable of offering consent because of alcohol consumption. Alcohol has been identified as a contributing factor in 97% of public order offences, as recorded by the Garda Pulse system. One in 11 people in the past year said that they or a family member had been assaulted by somebody under the influence of alcohol. Almost half of the perpetrators of homicide were intoxicated when the crime was committed.

We are paying a very high price with people's lives in regard to our inaction on alcohol. In my view, some of the utterances about loss of revenue to sporting organisations because of advertising or marketing curtailment cheapen life when we see how alcohol contributes not only to the commission of sexual assault but to the loss of people's lives as a result of the misuse of alcohol. We cannot leave this go any longer. I welcome this statement and look forward to working with the Minister of State in the new year to ensure legislation is introduced on this issue.

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