Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the light of some of the statement made, I do not think the statistics show that less alcohol has been consumed in recent years. However, the trends in drinking alcohol have changed. What they show is that people are not drinking in bars as much as they used to, but that there has been a huge increase in off-sales and sales through retail outlets. What has increased dramatically in the past couple of years is the abuse of alcohol and the number of people presenting at alcohol addiction services. As I mentioned on the Order of Business, it is great when two Department come together, in terms of their thinking, such as the Department of Health and the Department of Finance in dealing with certain issues. I wish that could happen in dealing with finance issues now and again. Certainly Departments do not think on the same lines.

In the HSE west, for example, some ¤22 million has been spent on acute services in Galway hospitals because of the increase in people showing up with alcohol related problems and the number of bed nights these people have had to be kept in hospital. However, the money being spent on the preventative aspects of this problem is being cut back and the services are being curtailed. As a result, the problems increase. Senator MacSharry suggested some form of ring-fencing for these funds and I agree the Department needs to consider that. Perhaps there are initiatives that need to be put in place. If we are serious about reducing the amount of alcohol related problems in communities, funds must be made available to them. However, once again this proposal is a blunt instrument that is being used, purely in order to bring in moneys for the Exchequer.

I appreciate that people all across the socioeconomic spectrum drink and that people with problems are not limited to any specific group. However, the point I have been trying to make is that the proportionate amount of tax a person pays relative to the amount of money he or she has in his or her pocket is greater if the person has less money in his or her pocket. If people are on a lower wage and the tax on their drink is increased, that will hit those people harder than those on a higher wage. That is the reason we believe it is a disproportionate tax and that to try to cloak this increase as a measure to curb drinking is a fallacy. The increases in the cost of drink over the past number of years have not caused a reduction in the number of people showing up at alcohol addiction centres across the country.