Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was a great pleasure to attend an Oireachtas cross-party meeting this morning organised by the Irish Cancer Society and Alcohol Action Ireland. Last Friday evening, I held a public forum on threats to women's health. It was addressed by Ms Suzanne Costello, the chief executive of Alcohol Action Ireland, and the rock star of oncology, Senator Crown. Both of them were adamant about the serious effects of alcohol on women's health.

I have two key points for the Leader. On Friday and again this morning, Ms Costello spoke about huge increases over the past 50 years in the number of women drinking in Ireland. We all know about that. In my time, it was taboo for women to go into a pub and drink. They could smoke all they liked, but a woman did not drink in a pub.