Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement by Diageo yesterday that it will be abandoning Arthur's day. The cancellation of that day, which is essentially an anniversary marking the birth of an alcoholic beverage, has been welcomed by many organisations, including Alcohol Action Ireland, which recently revealed that ambulance calls were up by 30% on that day. That organisation also recently highlighted our dangerous relationship with alcohol, and this was just another reason for people to drink. I am in two minds about Diageo's new initiative, Amplify, which is an effort to support Irish artists. I would always welcome this, but I am in two minds about it because it is alcohol sponsorship.

I support Senator Keane's comments regarding water safety. We need to raise awareness of this issue. An interesting but worrying report by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland showed that 60% of people over 60 drank during the course of their prescriptions. As we know, alcohol can interact harmfully with some prescription medications and cause negative side effects. This ties in with Senator MacSharry's Bill yesterday relating to suicide. We had a very good discussion about suicide and the significant role of alcohol was part of the debate. The figures were also high for people taking anti-epileptic or anti-psychotic drugs. Even though people are forbidden from drinking while using these drugs, a huge percentage of people drink when they are on that type of medication. No more than Senator Keane's call for advertising and awareness about water safety, we should consider an information campaign on this issue to highlight the dangers so that people are aware of what they are doing.