Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish him well in his new office. This is not the first time Members of this House have had a debate on the misuse of alcohol. In fact, such a debate has been held in virtually all the years I have been a Member. Over those years, it was usually a knee-jerk reaction to some incident or report after which it seems to have been left at that. I wonder whether any other Parliament in the world also is discussing the misuse of alcohol. I doubt it and therefore there are two questions to be asked. Is it the case that they do not have misuse of alcohol or is it because we are more concerned here to try to do something about the effects of the misuse of alcohol? At the outset, I compliment the Minister of State because this was an absolute breath of fresh air. On previous occasions when Members debated the misuse of alcohol, the contributions made in this Chamber contained too many "ifs" and "buts". Even though everyone on the street knew the truth, Members kept adding riders to their points for various reasons. Perhaps they were looking over their shoulders at the drinks industry or perhaps they did so out of a fear they might offend people who simply have a social drink every day. However, this report is an absolute wake-up call. I will not reiterate the statistics, which are all readily available but it is not simply a matter of drinking to excess. All the other issues that arise therefrom, including suicides, deaths and child abuse are connected. Members are aware that whenever the issue of drugs has been discussed in this House in the past, they get very excited about it and rightly so. They work on legislation and seek more severe action to ensure there will be a clampdown. However, alcohol is every bit as much a drug and the statistics leave no doubt but there is widespread harm and damage being inflicted.

This morning, Members discussed the issue of St. Patrick's Institution on the Order of Business. The point again was made, not simply about alcohol, that many of the young people concerned have been damaged by the misuse of alcohol. For every issue of concern raised in this House, in some way there is a connection back to alcohol itself. The sad thing is Members are in a position to control the alcohol issue much more easily than is the case with the illegal sale of drugs because an industry exists in respect of the former and it should be possible to interact with that industry. I do not mean merely with a cosmetic exercise. We do not even have a health warning in respect of alcohol in the same way as we do in respect of smoking. There is a certain similarity in that when restrictions were introduced on smoking in public places, there was an outcry but it only lasted a short time. This was because when the debate took place, it became quite evident that cigarette and tobacco smoking was injurious to health. Once that message got across, people were prepared to accept highly restrictive measures in respect of smoking. People do not question it any more and it now is the norm in their lives. However, if one looks back a few years, it seemed like an immense hurdle to overcome at that time.

At present, drink is freely advertised on television and no matter what one might say, it is not done in a subtle manner. I note that half of 16-year-olds have admitted to being drunk at some point, which is a frightening statistic. However, if they are looking at television and the consumption of alcohol is associated with manliness, having a good time or whatever else in some way, the young mind undoubtedly will absorb a certain amount of that. For instance, I always have been disappointed after games in which a team won a cup that the first thing done was to fill the cup with alcohol and to pass it around to young people. Hopefully, in years to come when this is corrected, we will look back with horror on the fact we allowed this to happen with young people in local communities and that no one shouted, "Stop". Where does most of the action take place in the television programmes "Fair City" and "Coronation Street"? In the pub. It must be influencing the viewer when one sees famous actors and actresses on television and sees that drink is part of their lifestyle. Moreover, this is going out as a message. One can also look back to the time when the cigarette was in fashion. When one was being trained in drama groups, the big difficulty one had as an actor was what to do with one's hands on the stage. The prop that people generally were given was a cigarette. Even if one looks back at the films of those days, with professional actors and actresses such as Humphrey Bogart or whoever else, one may observe how often a cigarette was used. This is no longer the case and it gradually is being phased out. There must be some way to do something similar. I do not blame RTE, the BBC or anyone else as this is the culture that exists at present. This is the reason I call this a breath of fresh air. Members can promulgate this message strongly to the public in respect of the statistics they have not quantified but which they knew were there. For instance, they could suggest to RTE, in respect of "Fair City", that it would be wonderful for the station to take the first opportunity in that particular industry to ask whether it would be possible to phase out that type of glamorisation of drink. This would be absolutely vital.

As I noted, Members have had this debate several times previously but each time I see antisocial behaviour on the streets, I do not get angry towards the young people concerned. Instead, I feel absolutely sad and sorry for them because they never had the opportunity of developing in the way young people did years ago. What is happening is that before they are even sufficiently responsible to know what drink is doing, they become absolutely immersed. I acknowledge it may be peer pressure as well. I note 16-year-olds are mentioned and refer to a survey conducted five or six years ago that children of 13 years of age were not necessarily becoming drunk but were imbibing hard spirits. Therefore, is it any wonder that later on in life, they find themselves in difficulties and troubles? Incidentally, Members should not be criticising the young people but should be criticising themselves, as they had the opportunity to legislate, to put pressure on the drinks industry and to ban advertising. The big question in respect of this document, the statistics and the report of the steering group will be whether Members have the sense of responsibility to act on it. If they do, it will be the greatest contribution they will have made, particularly to young people and to families in which there is abuse and in respect of depression and suicide because that is what this is all about. It all is embraced within that and as far as that is concerned, I can only say, "Well done" to the Minister of State. I hope Members stick by it and have the courage to follow it to a successful conclusion.