Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome Senator Dolan's family here. It is lovely to see the great pride she has in them and I am sure that it is reciprocated because they can be very proud of Senator Dolan and the wonderful work that she is doing here in the Seanad.

I welcome the announcement by the Cabinet that the long-awaited task force on the Shannon Estuary is about to commence and that advertisements will go out seeking indications of interest in becoming a member of its board. If this Government goes full term, as I believe it will, in 2025 I will have been a public representative for 40 years. In all that time I have had great joys and great disappointments. The Shannon Estuary has been the greatest struggle and disappointment of my political life. We have been promised so many false dawns. We were going to have a car assembly factory there, a zinc refinery and a major transhipment hub. I gave 16 years as a director of the local port company in Foynes, which was very profitable and go-ahead. We wasted so many wonderful opportunities from a lack of Government commitment and I am talking about my own party as well as everybody else.

Next week we will get the definitive result from An Bord Pleanála on the Shannon liquefied natural gas, LNG, project, which I devoutly hope will get the go-ahead. The Government has indicated that it will accept An Bord Pleanála's decision. When it comes to the objectors, 99% do not reside in my community. There is 99% support for that project in the community in north Kerry. I hope that if and when permission is given, these objectors will accept that and let us get on with creating jobs and creating new infrastructure and giving a whole new lease of life to the estuary.

I also welcome the report published yesterday by Alcohol Action Ireland in conjunction with the UCC school of public health on alcohol. We have had many debates here on alcohol but I would like to point out some alarming statistics in the report. It states that up to four people daily die in Ireland of alcohol-related disease. Alcohol is a factor in 5% of all deaths in the country. More than 25% of suicides, male and female, are alcohol-related. These statistics may be underestimates. I am not a killjoy. I drank when I was able; I cannot drink any more. It is wonderful to see people enjoying a drink in moderation. That said, we need to step up a gear. I am calling for a State-sponsored alcohol office to be opened by the Government, the introduction of a broadcast watershed for alcohol advertising on radio and television and clearer labelling of the danger of alcohol products, akin to what we get when we open our cigarette packets.