Seanad debates

Thursday, 17 December 2015

Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: Second Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and will be supporting the Bill. We are all aware of the devastating impact of alcohol abuse and misuse on families, individuals, employers and the State. It is estimated that it costs the State about €1.2 billion a year in health care costs. Any measures that can be put in place to reduce alcohol consumption will reduce that burden, as well as all of the other hurt caused by alcohol abuse and misuse, and are to be welcomed.

I sat on the Oireachtas health committee for two years when I first came into the Seanad. One of the Minister's predecessors had set up a working group - I think it was an expert review group - to look at these issues and make recommendations. There was also an Oireachtas report of which I was part. There was a sub-committee of Oireachtas Members who put a lot of work into making recommendations. There was consensus on many of the issues and it is interesting that we now have a Bill that broadly reflects that consensus. The broad support the Bill is receiving also shows this. It is not often that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has come into the Dáil or Seanad to be praised or have a Bill welcomed. This is certainly one of those occasions.

According to Alcohol Action Ireland, alcohol-related harm costs each taxpayer in Ireland an estimated €3,318 per year, which is incredible. Research into alcohol has found the following: 88 deaths every month in Ireland are linked to alcohol; one in 11 children says parental alcohol use has a negative effect on their lives; there are 1,200 cases of cancer each year caused by alcohol; one in four deaths of young men aged between 15 and 39 are due to alcohol; and one in three road deaths are alcohol-related. I am sure there are many more facts that have been or could be put on the record of the House.

As a party, we have repeatedly called for the early introduction of a public health (alcohol) Bill. I welcome the introduction of this Bill, which marks the first time alcohol has been designated as a public health issue. This is to be warmly welcomed. The Bill also includes measures on minimum unit pricing, health labelling on alcohol products and the restriction and regulation of advertising relating to sports, young people and broadcasting. I and my party had some concerns about minimum pricing, which we expressed during committee hearings at the time. While I am not at all opposed to using pricing to influence people's behaviour and reduce consumption, I would have taken the view that increasing excise duty was the best way to do that. Any increase in revenue would then go directly to the Exchequer and not into the pockets of those who sell alcohol. That is not really what we should be doing and may be an unintended consequence of minimum unit pricing. With an increase in excise duty, if we got any extra revenue, it could be ring-fenced for prevention, education and all the stuff that the Minister would welcome. I would have preferred to see that, but we will not refuse to back the Bill because of it. We are prepared to see how the Government's plan is going to work out in practice, give it a fair wind and evaluate it over the next months and years. We will certainly support the Minister in that regard.

It is also important that it is an overarching policy and a package of measures. We had very lengthy discussions on advertising, and Sinn Féin supported the watershed of 9 p.m. for alcohol advertising. We saw it as a pragmatic measure. While we have to be pragmatic and sensible in dealing with these issues, we also need to take really strong, proactive, robust and positive measures. There is no point in having half-baked measures. They have to be genuine and must have an impact. There is no point in doing this otherwise.

The Minister has done a very good job in listening to all of the stakeholders, in the Oireachtas and elsewhere, and the advocacy groups. I am sure there was pressure coming from other groups as well. This is a very welcome Bill and I commend the Minister on it. I very much hope that in a couple of years the statistics will look different and we will be able to say that the passage of this Bill played a part in making it happen.

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