Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Mary Wallace, to the House and wish her well in her brief. It is a challenging brief with which we all, as public representatives, can identify because we recognise what is happening in society. I have no doubt the Minister of State will be comfortable with these challenges.

What are the priorities in health promotion to deliver good health for the people, both adults and children? Lifestyles have changed over the past 15 years as Ireland has become a more wealthy society. Parents and young children have had much money to spend and this should have been matched with good health. Consumer spending, however, has brought along bad health with high blood pressure, binge drinking, obesity in children, cardiovascular disease, nervousness and asthma becoming more prevalent. These are illnesses I never heard of when I was growing up. Health profiles of young people highlight problems with self-esteem, bullying and suicide. If I were to talk on every one of these issues, I would be here for a long time. I will concentrate on the one issue that I know most about from my dealing with the public — binge drinking.

The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 alone will not tackle the problem of young people binge-drinking. It is a societal issue which must involve parents, communities and schools in tackling binge-drinking and its knock-on effect, anti-social behaviour. Why is binge-drinking prevalent? It is because of low self-esteem and too much money among our young people. Many of them had part-time work and were able to spend what they earned on drink. This may change with the downturn of the economy. In one way, the downturn might be good in that people will have to pull their lifestyles in a bit. Many young people believe they are a success story by proving how much they can drink. At 3 o'clock in the morning, they all spill on to the streets with resulting anti-social behaviour. Public transport could be used to prevent people congregating. The Minister of State should involve the Department of Transport.

The Garda cannot tackle this alone. Parents have a role too. There has to be a change in attitudes which can only come from the schools. Our social and personal education is not sufficient to deal with this problem. While teachers will do it well between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m, when young people leave the school environment, it changes. Schools, the Garda, the law cannot tackle this issue alone. All stakeholders must combine to change our lifestyles to bring about an attitude of good living, health, behaviour and a sense of being responsible. Good manners and how to behave in society were prevalent when we were growing up but now they are gone. We were taught these by our parents, not in the schools. The question must be asked whether they are being taught manners today. The schools will do their best but there must be continuity in the outside world to deal with that. As well as getting at the schools, therefore, the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, must get at society.

Residents' associations will have a role. Perhaps we should invite people in to discuss the area of anti-social behaviour and how society can help out. It is like the national economy in that we all have a stake in this. We all want to have a good standard of living, to protect our way of life and to have the money in our pockets, but we must sacrifice somewhere.

In the light of this binge-drinking, we must change the attitude and the culture. I enjoy a drink. Anybody would enjoy alcohol in moderation, but this is about how to behave. It comes from our low self-esteem. I ask myself why there is such low self-esteem. Why do young people feel they must drink and judge the success of their night out by how much alcohol they can consume? What worries me about society is that the pattern of life is failing and I wonder how the young people will cope with life when they grow up to be adults.

Another area I wish to raise relates to overweight and obese children. That is also a societal issue. We must ask the teachers of social, personal and health education and the nutritionists. The parents at pre-school must understand before their children come to school.

The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Wallace, has a great time ahead of her. There are considerable challenges. I will continue to speak to her on this outside the Chamber. She will make it work because it is a societal issue and that is what she is good at.