Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To follow Senator Quinn's comments on the need for defibrillators on aeroplanes, which is an important issue, I wish to raise an issue regarding people on holidays. Sadly, there has been a great deal of focus on people on holidays in the last few days due to tragic events, but the issue I wish to raise is the consumption of alcohol by people on holidays. I recently spoke to a colleague who told me that on their way back from a holiday a person went through withdrawal symptoms on the airplane. Obviously, the person was drinking excessively while on holidays. When it was suggested that the only solution available on the airplane was to give the person a drink, the response was that he could not be given a drink because he had to drive others home from the airport. It is important when people go on holidays to keep the issue of alcohol consumption in mind because excessive drinking can cause problems. It certainly caused problems in that case, and caused problems for the airline as well.

The other issue I wish to raise, and I raised it as a Commencement matter earlier, is the current difficulties with the registration of nurses and the shortage of nurses.