Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who previously served as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health and Children. I am aware of his great interest in and in-depth knowledge of alcohol and the problems relating thereto.

I welcome the report, which is a great read. Since I became a Member of the Seanad, the House has discussed alcohol on more occasions than I can remember. When I pointed this out to a colleague who contributed earlier in the debate, the reply I received was that we have spoken on it so often that it would nearly drive one to drink. I do not intend to make light of a serious issue. The more we discuss this matter, the more we will highlight it.

I congratulate the authors of the report, one of whom comes from my health board area, on presenting us with such a detailed and good report. I was particularly impressed by the public health approach taken. It is the first occasion of which I am aware that the authors of a report on alcohol were aware they have the support of the WHO, which recognises the range of health, social and behavioural problems caused by alcohol consumption. The best and most effective alcohol policy must take into account the total amount of alcohol consumed by a community, while bearing in mind the needs of high-risk groups and individual high-risk drinkers.

My local health board, the North Western Health Board — I will not use all of my allotted time referring to it — seems to be well on the road in terms of reports on alcohol. Last week or perhaps the previous week, the health board's CEO, Mr. Pat Harvey, and the independent chair of the North West Alcohol Forum, Mr. Denis Bradley, who is also vice-chair of the PSNI and an alcohol addiction counsellor, visited the Houses of the Oireachtas where he met the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, and presented him with a report from the board. I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children which, headed up by the Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, issued a report just before the summer recess on young people and drinking. The recommendations of both reports are extremely similar. I do not know if the health board copied us or vice versa. However, our report went to print before the board's.

The North Western Health Board's forum on alcohol came about following the first report of the Commission on Liquor Licensing. The forum came together with interested groups in the north west such as those involved in education, the Garda, the vintners and, in order to get their message across, the local radio station, and has drawn up a plan for 2005. It wants to move into primary care units and discuss issues such as detoxing in-community as opposed to doing so in hospital settings, away from which people tend to shy. Those involved want help to be given to people with acute problems. If a person has an acute problem on a Friday evening, there is nowhere for him or her to detox other than in a mental hospital. The position must change in this regard because using mental hospitals or institutions involves a particular set of problems.

The forum also wants brief interventions and wants people to discuss their drinking habits. For example, a GP should be prepared to discuss with patients how much they are drinking, whether their drinking is causing arguments at home and if they are missing half or entire days at work as a result of drinking the previous night. GPs, nurses and counsellors should also be able to talk to younger people about alcohol and pregnancy. I refer here not only to young girls but also to their male counterparts. As everyone is aware, it takes a man to make a woman pregnant. I was intrigued to hear Senator Glynn state that such a high percentage of women drink when they are pregnant. I did not realise the figure was that high. As a woman, I would have thought people, particularly when they are pregnant, would be more responsible. He stated his views would be similar if men were able to carry children.

The Sligo group also referred to liaison nurses being appointed in acute hospitals. This recommendation is also contained in the national report. It asked the Minister of State's colleague to establish the north-west group as a pilot group. The Minister of State is aware that I will push the interests of my local group as much as possible but I must reiterate that the North Western Health Board is ahead of the posse. The group is already in place and has an agreed understanding of the problem and the project on hand. The liaison nurse in accident and emergency is part of its plan for 2005. She will deal with issues surrounding mental health such as self-harm — which will be followed up on — and also alcohol problems. She will also deal with the general hospital in terms of how it deals with problems that arise each week.

The group has a major understanding of what is involved and has identified areas to which reference has already been made during this debate. One of these concerns the difficulties involving early school leavers. There are strong indications that such young people are more likely to become involved not only with alcohol but also drugs. In my opinion we should group the two together because they are both addictive and equally harmful. Female early school leavers are probably more likely to become pregnant than their counterparts who remain in education. The group also identified the fact that early school leavers will become involved in crime, either early or later on in their lives. Major emphasis should be placed on retaining people in education. The group to which I refer has had involvement from educators, parents and other interested bodies.

Other people referred to the fact that those most at risk — this message should be driven home to parents — are the under 15s. We must face the fact that society has changed since we were young. We did not drink before 15 years of age. When one approached the legal age for drinking, one would certainly indulge. However, one would not dare go home afterwards. The position now is different. Parents should consider that perhaps under 15s should not be allowed to work. I do not wish to deny anybody pocket money, babysitting money or whatever. However, the fact that people have too much money is only fuelling the problem. Everyone is aware of the huge risks to the health of those of 15 years of age or younger if they are constantly drinking.

The task force's report highlights the fact that the main problem is the conflict between Departments, a matter which has often been discussed here. The House has frequently discussed the need to gel Departments for the betterment of society. Regardless of whether the issue is under age drinking or drinking among adults, we must knock our heads together and get on with dealing with it. Given the goodwill among the public in this respect, we must get the show on the road.

The Joint Committee on Health and Children, of which I am a member, issued fantastic recommendations on the issue of alcohol consumption. These should be considered alongside those of the report of the national task force on alcohol, some of which overlap. Among our recommendations was the establishment of a central control agency to co-ordinate Departments such as Health and Children, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

We need to discuss with the new Minister for Finance the possibility of increasing the price of alco-pops by as much as 100%.