Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the Adjournment which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

The House will be well aware of the harm caused by alcohol misuse in society. It would be simplistic to describe the problem as one related to under-age drinking. Most of the harm occurs among the adult population. It manifests itself, for example, in street violence, accidents, hospital admissions, drink driving, alcohol poisoning, suicides and alcohol dependency. Some of these problems arise where the light or moderate drinker drinks to excess on a single drinking occasion, while others result from regular heavy drinking over a longer period of time.

I would like to describe alcohol misuse in a health context. Alcohol causes twice as many deaths as all other drugs combined. One in four deaths among young men under the age of 34 years is due to alcohol compared with one in 12 deaths due to cancers and one in 25 due to circulatory disease. Suicide rates have doubled in the past 20 years. Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all young male suicides. It is also responsible for nearly one quarter of the injuries presenting to emergency treatment centres.

In order to tackle the problems associated with alcohol misuse, we need to take responsibility both collectively and individually. The social acceptance of alcohol in our society needs to be questioned. We also need to question what example we, as adults, are giving to our children and young people. The Government has acted and will continue to take the necessary steps to reduce the level of alcohol-related harm. To date, we have 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.

The Government alcohol advisory group was set up in January 2008 to make recommendations to address the public order aspects of the licensing laws. The group's recommendations formed the basis of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008. The introduction of the Act, which was conceived and passed within six months, has demonstrated this Government's commitment to dealing with alcohol misuse. The Act contains provisions for reduced hours for off-sales of alcohol, tougher public order provisions allowing gardaí to seize alcohol from minors and for test purchasing of alcohol by persons under the age of 18. The Act requires applicants for a wine retailer's off-licence to obtain a District Court certificate to obtain the licence. It has also attached stricter conditions to the granting of a special exemption order.

In March 2009 the Government agreed to include alcohol in a national substance misuse strategy that would be co-ordinated by the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs. A steering group has been established to develop proposals on alcohol policy for an overall national substance misuse strategy that will incorporate the agreed drugs policy element. The steering group is being chaired jointly by the Department of Health and Children and the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs. It will base its recommendations on effective evidence-based measures to deal with the significant public health issue of alcohol in areas such as supply, pricing, prevention, treatment, awareness and education. The steering group is working towards completing its report by the end of this year.

Alcohol labelling is one of the many issues being discussed by the steering group. The Department of Health and Children has indicated its intention to prepare proposals for legislation in this area. The intention is that health advice or warnings would be placed on alcohol drink containers, such as bottles and cans, as well as promotional materials. The health advice would include advice on the dangers of consuming alcohol in pregnancy. In addition, it is proposed to provide for the inclusion on the label of the amount of pure alcohol in grams contained in each bottle and can, etc. I look forward to the publication of the report from the national substance misuse strategy steering group which will advise the Government on the necessary policies and actions to be taken to reduce further the harm caused by alcohol misuse in society.