Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I also welcome the Minister of State to the House and I am delighted to contribute to this debate.

I was shocked by the report of the strategic task force on alcohol. We are now the second highest country in Europe in terms of alcohol consumption. The report categorises the different styles of drinking. There are binge drinkers, those who drink until they cannot take any more and then there are simple heavy drinkers. I did not know such categorisation existed until I read this report. Our lifestyle has changed in the past decade and this is the outcome of that change. I welcome this report. It will make us think seriously about where we go from here.

A section of the report deals with children and the drinking patterns of children aged between 15 and 18. It is shocking to think that children as young as 12 have no difficulty gaining access to all sorts of alcohol. This is a terrible indictment of our way of life.

The report states that the number of outlets selling alcohol is increasing. I had thought it was difficult to get a licence to sell drink. It now appears that once an off-licence has been given, the licence holder does not need a certificate. The question of the availability of alcohol must be revisited. Outlets for the sale of alcohol must be scrutinised. At many new garages one can buy a bottle of wine with one's petrol. I do not like that way of life. Young people are being given considerable access to alcohol. We should not allow such a way of life to take root.

Young people appear to have no shortage of money to spend on alcohol. Where do they get the money? We all know how much it costs for an evening out. How can young people from the age of 12 get money to buy drink? Many questions must be asked.

The effect of alcohol on health is visible everywhere. We see it on the streets, in the workplace, in institutions and in accident and emergency units. The knock-on effect of alcohol is seen in real ill-health such as thrombosis and cirrhosis of the liver. Alcohol also affects performance at work.

Where do we go from here? Alcohol abuse has become a community and societal problem. The schools have failed. I say this although I am a teacher. Schools try to implement alcohol education programmes. These programmes work while the children are in school but once they leave the school environment their effectiveness ceases. We must devise a community policy which takes parents into account. Attitudes and values are vital. If a child's attitude is affected early in his or her home life a different style of life will take root. The community must take up this challenge.

We have laws in this area, including the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. We have banned happy hours and children under 18 are not allowed in licensed premises after 9 p.m. However, they do not seem to have worked and awful tragedies continue to happen on the roads. Every day we see newspaper reports of accidents that occurred between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. involving young people and drink driving.

We need to consider new options to prevent harm. How can we protect our children? How can we bring in a public health spirit? How can we create awareness? How can we link with the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science to bring about change? These are questions we must put again. Parents, the community and the Garda all need to do their bit. I recall the awful nightclub tragedy last year. The behaviour of the young men outside that nightclub says it all. Something has gone very wrong in our society when people, who should know better, cannot be responsible for their behaviour at a certain point in the night.

We must ask how we can change attitudes. Teachers and parents in conjunction with the community and local gardaí need to be vigilant every night to see how best we can bring about a change in society to ensure that everybody has a safe journey on the roads this Christmas. Everybody is now taking their lives in their hands when getting onto their cars to drive for a long journey. Even the best driver in the world could come across a young drunk person driving at excessive speed. If we can bring about such a change we will make inroads into the problem. We must return to the traditional way that worked in the past with parents taking control of their young children to inculcate in them a value system that shows respect for themselves, their neighbours and the community. We must start with the parents, some of whom are here today listening to this debate. If we can get this right, we do not need laws, which only go so far. The parents can be the law.

Local authorities have by-laws covering drinking in open spaces of which there is insufficient awareness. The parents of a young person drinking in an open space should be given a substantial on-the-spot fine within an hour of the incident. If it is not done in that way it will not penetrate into the system. How many people know about the report of the strategic task force on alcohol? If I were not a Member of the Seanad, I would not have known and I doubt if anybody else would have known about it. We need to start a major awareness programme among interested parties advising of the need for a change in society to bring about a different style of life and protect our values so that we can tell the world at large that we no longer have the highest consumption of alcohol in the world. We need to be able to show that we know how to respect ourselves, our families and our way of life. We must return to the traditional way of handling this problem by encouraging a community spirit. If we do this we have some hope of curbing the problem and bringing about a new way of life.