Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the manager of the Clare hurling team, Davy Fitzgerald, on his openness and frankness in his speech to students at the Limerick Institute of Technology in recent days on the issue of alcohol and other substance abuse in sport. He is in a great position to demonstrate that when a group of players decides to pursue a path of abstinence from alcohol and other substances, it can achieve something very significant.

Mr. Fitzgerald's speech dovetails nicely with the launch yesterday of the all-party Oireachtas group on alcohol misuse. I attended a very powerful presentation in the AV room by four people - a nurse from University Hospital Galway, a paramedic with the National Ambulance Service, a person working in the drugs and alcohol service, and Mr. Alastair Campbell. The nurse, Ann Burke from Galway, asked a very relevant question, namely, whether politicians really know what is happening in emergency departments late at night when we are all safely tucked up in our beds, the level of violence nurses have to endure and the horrific injuries with which patients present. Other speakers spoke of eight and ten year old children looking after their brothers and sisters while their parents are abusing alcohol. In short, a very frightening picture was painted. I applaud Alcohol Action Ireland for organising the seminar in conjunction with the all-party Oireachtas group on alcohol misuse.

It would be appropriate, in advance of the publication of the public health (alcohol) Bill, for the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, to come to the House for a frank discussion on the urgency of addressing these issues. The number of lives that are being destroyed and the increasing cost to the health service are a matter of national urgency. The sooner the legislation is brought forward and the recommendations of the various groups that fed into the Bill are implemented, the better. I ask the Leader to organise that debate in the coming weeks.