Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank those colleagues who have contributed to our discussion on this important issue. The report identifies all of the key areas involved. Senator Noone was curious as to our response to the various recommendations. I will not go through each response, but I reflected on most in the course of my speech. Regarding the report's general recommendations, for example, the calls on the Minister for Health to develop a national physical activity plan for all age groups that includes cycling and walking schemes, to ensure the activity plan is central to urban and rural planning and to concentrate on the local level when encouraging significant lifestyle change, the Healthy Ireland initiative is where all of this should happen. We need to pull together all of the agencies. I understand Senator Eamonn Coghlan's frustration at being told to replace "action" with "explore". Such requests can be disappointing. It may surprise the House, but this is a frustration that I have encountered as a Minister of State. One wants actions to be taken quickly, but there often seems to be a good reason for doing something and ten for not doing it.

Progress can be made. Issues such as alcohol can grow so large each time we discuss them that we lose the opportunity to get a grip on them. If we take initiatives such as the one achieved by Senator Eamonn Coghlan, even if they are just pilot projects in schools, at least we have made a start. The Senator can point to what has been achieved in two, six or eight schools. He and people who agree with him are in a much better position to point to what they have already done and ask for it to be done in all schools. I have probably become something of an incrementalist in my middle age. Many of us would like to see initiatives being taken quickly, but if a trail can be laid and people can show that a certain amount has been achieved, they can achieve much more.

There is a manifest link between smoking and cancer. The Minister for Health will comment further on a smoking policy in the coming weeks. I hope he will also be able to say more to Senator Crown and others regarding the legislation sponsored by the Senator regarding smoking in cars.

In terms of obesity, I must revert to the Healthy Ireland framework, although not just to point Senators to that document.

The Healthy Ireland development is a real policy initiative and there are really good people involved. I thank Senator O'Keeffe for pointing out the number of committed people behind this initiative who want to see it work. They do not just see it as a document that they have managed to complete, they are now taking this matter up and running with it. Dr. O'Keeffe in particular is leading on it in the HSE and is very committed to it. All the agencies are being pulled together, not just the Department of Health.

While it is a terrible cliché, health is too important to be left to the Department of Health. It ranges across all the areas that Members here have already mentioned, including the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, local authorities, statutory agencies, public parks and bike trails. All these areas must be brought together to ensure that we have a real set of policies to achieve our aim.

As colleagues know, I am dealing with the alcohol issue. I wish to thank Senators for their various contributions and support in this regard. I do not wish to single out any Members in particular but I do wish to thank Senator Cullinane for the support he has offered. I would like to have an opportunity to discuss minimum unit pricing. I am persuaded of the value of minimum unit pricing for alcohol. Everybody agrees that pricing is the key factor, it is just that there is a disagreement between the use of minimum unit pricing or excise. Minimum unit pricing targets alcohol that is cheap relative to its strength. Excise, however, puts up the price of all alcohol. It is difficult, although not impossible, to distinguish different types of alcohol for excise which is a fairly blunt instrument. Excise will increase the price all around, but is that what Senators want to do, or do they wish to target the alcohol that is cheap relative to its strength?

We are garnering evidence from Canada, including British Columbia and Saskatchewan. They are comparable areas that have introduced minimum unit pricing, so we can demonstrate to colleagues the value and evidence-base of minimum unit pricing. We should consider taking that route. Such proposals, along with those on marketing and sponsorship, are before the Government. I would hope the decisions will be forthcoming within weeks rather than months, but it is a matter for the Government.

There is genuine disagreement among colleagues on sponsorship and marketing but I wish to draw the attention of the House to a report on sponsorship that was published within the last two weeks. It is relevant and appeared in the learned journal Alcohol and Alcoholism. We need to understand that increasing proportions of marketing budgets now go on sponsorship rather than advertising. Many people seem to think that sponsorship is benign. They may think that advertising is the hardcore activity and that sponsorship just involves a company putting up its logo. However, the evidence increasingly shows that it is vastly more sophisticated and that the impact is much more significant.

Last week's remarkable study concerned a frequency analysis of alcohol marketing in televised English professional football. The study identified an average of 111 visual references and two verbal references to alcohol per hour of broadcasting. Nearly all visual references were to beer products and were primarily simple logos or branding. The majority of verbal alcohol references were related to title sponsorship of competitions. A total of 17 formal alcohol commercials were identified accounting for less than 1% of the total broadcast time. Therefore the balance is shifting quickly between the spend on what we would regard as traditional advertising and on sponsorship. The conclusion is that visual alcohol references in televised top-class English football matches are common, with an average of nearly two per minute. Verbal references are rare and formal alcohol commercials account for less than 1% of broadcast time. Restriction of all alcohol sports sponsorship, as seen for tobacco, may be justified according to the authors of that study.

We cannot put together a package of measures on alcohol without seriously addressing the issues of marketing and sponsorship.