Seanad debates

Wednesday, 17 November 2010

7:00 pm

Photo of Ciarán CuffeCiarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I thank Senator Buttimer for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I will take it on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

I have made it my policy not to meet representatives of the drinks industry, which has more than sufficient clout as matters stand. As we approach Christmas, Members receive the usual run of invitations to meet representatives of the Licensed Vintners Association and MEAS, the Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society organisation. These groups have more than enough access to the Oireachtas. The budget of MEAS, for instance, amounts to only a tiny fraction of the amount spent on advertising alcohol. I simply allow organisations such as the LVA and MEAS to make their case beyond the walls of this institution as I do not have the time or inclination to meet them to have them make the case for the brilliant work they are doing. The fact remains that they spend many tens of millions of euro each year promoting alcohol in the most invasive ways they can find. The Senator put his finger on the issue when he referred to the use of new media by alcohol companies.

Alcohol harm is visible throughout Ireland, whether on the streets, in the courts or in hospitals, workplaces, schools and homes. Despite the tendency to blame under age drinkers, the majority of alcohol harm occurs among the adult population. It manifests itself in street violence, accidents, hospital admissions, drunk driving, alcohol poisoning, suicides, alcohol dependency, cancers and cirrhosis. Some of these problems, especially those of an acute nature, arise when light or moderate drinkers drink to excess on a single drinking occasion while others result from regular heavy drinking over a long period.

We, in Ireland, have a problem with alcohol. I remember living in Italy for a year and one would never see someone over indulging in alcohol. People were very good at simply mixing alcohol and food and not going out simply to drink. Alternatively, if they did so it would be a glass of beer, as opposed to have a dozen pints.

However, I am concerned about the high level of alcohol consumption amongst younger people. Alcohol causes twice as many deaths as those due to all other drugs combined. One in four deaths in young men aged 15 to 34 is due to alcohol, compared to one in 12 deaths due to cancer and one in 25 deaths due to circulatory disease. Suicide rates have doubled in the last 20 years and alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all young male suicides. Alcohol also was responsible for nearly one quarter of the injuries presenting to emergency treatment centres and is a factor in eight out of ten rapes. In order to tackle the problems associated with alcohol misuse, we need to take responsibility both collectively and individually. There is a social acceptance of alcohol in our society and we must question the signal this is sending to young people in particular.

A considerable body of evidence shows that alcohol policies and interventions targeted at vulnerable populations can prevent alcohol-related harm. It also is the case that policies targeted at the population at large can have a protective effect. This is the approach taken in the strategic task force on alcohol report of 2004 and is consistent with the approach recommended by the World Health Organisation. That organisation has stated that a combination of strategies should be used to tackle alcohol misuse. These include the regulation and restriction of the availability of alcohol, regulation of the marketing of alcoholic beverages, enactment of appropriate drink-driving policies and implementing screening programmes, as well as brief interventions against hazardous and harmful use of alcohol, for example in primary care and accident and emergency departments. In line with the best and national advice, the Government has to date introduced mandatory alcohol testing of drivers, reduced the opening hours for the sale of alcohol in off-licences and supermarkets and implemented controls on the marketing of alcohol. In addition, I am pleased to note that I have been breathalysed twice in the last 12 months. Random breath testing is a good and effective tool in the fight against the misuse of alcohol.

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