Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

This morning I read about the report of the steering group on the national substance misuse strategy which revealed that in 2010, the average Irish adult consumed 11.9 litres of pure alcohol which one can translate into 482 pints of lager, 125 bottles of wine or 45 bottles of vodka. Bearing in mind that 19% of Irish adults are abstainers, the actual consumption is considerable. Worryingly, the report showed that Irish adults binge drink more than those in any other EU country and that one quarter of Irish adults binge drink every week.

Moving on to younger people, which is the real problem, Irish children are drinking from a younger age and are drinking more than ever before. I do not know what young people are expected to do when that is what adults do. The average age for a first drink for children born in 1980 was 15. That is now down to 14 for children born since the 1990s.

The steering group identified cheap off-licences and the fact the availability of alcohol in off-licences has increased by 161% from 1998 to 2010 as reasons for this but these are not the only reasons. It is a cultural issue in this country.

We had a very useful debate recently on jobs, which Senator Mullins proposed. I propose a similar debate in regard to this issue. I know jobs is a serious issue but this is a really serious one for our health service and our young people. Generations will be seriously affected by this issue.

The steering group made various recommendations, such as phasing out sponsorship of sporting events by alcohol companies and a social responsibility levy on the drinking of alcohol. I suggest more education in schools. It has been shown that where young people learn in school about the damage smoking can cause-----