Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Alcohol Action Ireland along with, I believe, 80 other social, health and community organisations, and academics, have been on to a considerable number of people, including the Minister. They have presented international evidence showing that extending opening times by one hour results in a 16% increase in alcohol-related crime, a 30% increase in traffic collisions in rural areas and a 34% increase in injuries that require hospitalisation. We need to look at that. I welcome what the Minister had to say and I accept we need to deal with the night-time economy. One of the recommendations of the Oireachtas committee was to have a health impact assessment, which would deal with much of this. In Ireland we also have an issue with our ethos regarding alcohol. Unfortunately, that also relates to cocaine, which creates its own difficulties.

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