Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I join others in congratulating the President-elect, Mr. Michael D. Higgins. I note his generosity over many years as a public servant. We will now all be able to benefit from that generosity for another next seven years in another guise in addition to his roles as Senator, Deputy and Minister. We have much to look forward to. I join Senator Mooney in congratulating Sligo Rovers' tremendous victory. Perhaps the President-elect might like to forget about that moment, but I am sure, wearing his new hat, he will find generosity beyond Galway United and join everybody else in congratulating the team.

This morning the North West Alcohol Forum in conjunction with the north west regional drugs task force launched a report, entitled Hidden Realities, which highlights the concerns we have had about alcohol for many years. The report specifically investigates children's exposure to risk from parental drinking, much of which takes place in the home. While there is much in the report, it highlights that when children, who have been physically abused by their parents as a consequence of alcohol, present in hospital, the role that alcohol plays in that abuse is not noted in the hospital report or in the report that goes to social workers thereafter. That could be done easily and would not cost money. It would raise the profile of the issue in hospitals and give us a clearer picture of where and among whom the alcohol abuse is occurring and therefore allow more cost-effective decisions to be made on spending money on the protection of children. Without statistics and information, we cannot make those decisions. The Minister for Health and-or the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs should review that as a matter of urgency with the HSE.