David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I beg the Chair's pardon. I will not only address the Chair, I will address its occupant.

Multinational corporations have been carrying out extensive lobbying of Members of this House. Sometimes, they are clever in how they conceal their origins referring to "responsible drinkers" and all of that rubbish. No one believes it. They have stopped lobbying me because I used to send material back and tell them that I did not believe them.

I will start with the impact of alcohol on the health of the people and the finances of the country. Three lives are lost daily. There is a €3.75 billion cost to the health service and the Exchequer. That is a hell of a lot of money. I am not being moralistic about this. These are the facts. I acknowledge the presence of former Senator Jillian van Turnhout in the Gallery. She has done a great deal of work on this issue. She was with the Children's Rights Alliance, from which I received a briefing. The impact of alcohol on children is frightening. It is being done through advertising. Children are attracted to bright advertising, including on television. They will ask about these matters. A survey published in December 2015 found that 64% of children aged between 13 and 17 years had consumed alcohol. That ought to give people pause for thought. A total of 53% had been drunk at least once. Kids in their early teens drunk. This is the situation with which we are faced. Forget about the fancy stuff about putting bottles of wine behind curtains and so on. Think directly of the damage being done. Of those surveyed, 50% reported that they drank every month. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed concern about the high level of alcohol consumption by adolescents and has called on Ireland to strengthen its efforts to address this.

After the Bill's recital of the technical and legal mumbo jumbo, it gets into broadcast advertisements, that is, on the wireless and television. They are potent instruments. We should follow directly the example set by what was done in respect of tobacco and ban the advertising of alcohol. Alcohol is something that gives people pleasure when taken in moderation but it is a poison. Is no one awake to this fact? One can die of alcohol poisoning. One does not have to wait to get cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. A person can drink and drink - people increasingly do in, for example, student challenges where they drink enormous amounts - and die of alcohol poisoning after just one session.

One in four people has experienced harm as a result of someone else's drinking and 55% of drinkers were hazardous drinkers. The newspapers released a figure the other day showing that 97% of Irish people do not regard themselves as problem drinkers but that approximately 50% of them are binge drinkers. It is a case of "Oh, but that is not a problem. I just have an odd binge."

It is time that we were realistic about this matter. Here is the strength that the Minister of State has behind her. I hope she does not weaken or give in to the drink lobby or any of her colleagues in Seanad Éireann who will be affected-----