Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank him for his comprehensive speech on the issue. The Minister of State provided many figures but one interesting comparison was that in 1960 Irish people were consuming 5 litres of alcohol per adult on average. I understand this has increased to 11.9 litres per adult per annum, a remarkable increase. This equates to 482 pints of lager, 125 bottles of wine or 45 bottles of vodka per annum. This is where we stand now. During the past 20 years because of the economic progress we have made we have allowed this problem to develop without putting any restrictions in place or without examining the long-term policy in this area. We have not considered the real net cost. The Minister of State referred to this in his speech. There is a frightening cost of more than ¤3 billion in real terms associated with health care, loss of time at work, car accidents and all the attendant issues. We have allowed this to drift and now we must face this problem, deal with it and look to see what we can do. We should consider where we want to see ourselves in 20 years time.

I am not criticising anyone in particular but I was in Washington Street in Cork on Arthur's day at 10.30 p.m. and it was frightening. I do not understand why people cannot go out for a night without this behaviour. As I walked along one of the streets several people were getting physically sick in front of me. They were on the street and leaning up against office doors. They were mainly students who thought this was part of the norm because they were in college. It is frightening that we have come into this culture. It reached such an extent that I rang the Garda and asked whether the force would consider closing off Washington Street at 10.30 p.m. or 11 p.m. for health and safety reasons. It is frightening that we have reached this stage. I realise people had a good night but we should consider the effects such behaviour has on people's health.

The Minister of State referred to the effects alcohol abuse can have on family life. It is interesting to consider the figures. According to the ESRI, alcohol is a factor in one third of physical abuse cases. According to the Alcohol Forum in 2011 alcohol abuse was mentioned in 36% of cases as the reason for child protection.

Earlier I referred to education and early school leaving. I am involved in a project that is attempting to get 30 people back into the education system. These people dropped out of school, in some cases when they were as young as 12 years of age. We are trying to get them back in and we are trying to help them. They dropped out at an early stage and ended up with literacy and numeracy problems. It is an uphill battle to try to get the necessary support because they do not fit into the normal education system. Many of them do not fit in because they started off with alcohol abuse and then proceeded to drug abuse.

The Department of Health has not addressed the harmful impact of parental drinking, especially during pregnancy. Recently, I spoke to a nurse about this issue. She said that one can see the effects on a newborn baby as a direct result of foetal alcohol syndrome. Symptoms may include distinctive facial features, slow physical growth, before and after birth, vision or hearing problems, poor co-ordination, delayed mental development, abnormal behaviour and heart defects. These are some of the knock-on effects of a mother drinking while pregnant. We have not done enough with regard to education in this area and we need to do more.

Recently in the House I referred to the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, where on average 40 babies are born who suffer from delirium tremens or cold turkey after being born. Much of this is drug related but there are some cases related to excessive drinking. It occurs because the supply is suddenly cut off once they are born and they suffer from delirium tremens immediately after being born. There are 20 such cases per annum in the other two hospitals in Dublin. These are the knock-on effects and we need to produce an education programme in this area as well.

How do we move forward? There have been several reports from the Joint Committee on Health and Children and the national substance misuse strategy steering group, which reported on 7 February 2012. They have set out clear guidelines with regard to the road we should go down. We need to take certain decisions. They will not be popular. An increase in price is one option and the introduction of minimum pricing is another. We must take certain actions and we cannot put them on the long finger anymore.

Let us consider the numbers of people in hospital as we speak. Some 2,000 people are occupying beds in Irish hospitals as a direct result of excessive drinking over several years. We need to ensure that the problems we have now are dealt and we must plan for the future and for 20 years time. However, we must make the right decisions now. The Minister of State may not be popular as a result of some of the decisions he must make but they will be in the best interests of the country. This is about providing leadership. Yesterday, we saw leadership with the announcement of the reform of local government. That area was untouched for 100 years and in real terms this issue has not been touched for 100 years either. Now is the time to do it. The Minister of State has my full support with regard to the decisions he intends to make on this matter and I encourage him to arrive at them at an early date.