Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 184: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason the recommendations on the task force on alcohol have not been implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6303/07]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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There were 78 wide ranging recommendations emerging from the 2004 Strategic Task Force on Alcohol (STFA) Report. Responsibility for their implementation fell across a broad range of Government Departments and Agencies. The Government approved the implementation of the recommendations and the various Ministers were asked to pursue implementation of the recommendations appropriate to their Departments.

Some progress has been made in relation to the recommendations, for example: random Breath Testing was introduced in 2006; the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 responded to a number of recommendations of the Commission on Liquor Licensing and the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol. It contains a number of provisions on the serving of alcohol to intoxicated customers, the prohibiting of "happy hours" and the restriction of children at certain times and circumstances from licensed premises; a Voluntary Code of Practice on Alcohol Advertising has been agreed between the Department of Health and Children and the drinks, media and advertising industries. This addresses many of the concerns in relation to the placement of alcohol advertisements. The establishment by the drinks industry of Central Copy Clearance Ireland addresses the issue of the content of alcohol advertisements. A Monitoring Body has been established to oversee the implementation of and adherence to the Voluntary Code and will report to the Minister in the Spring 2007; in relation to community mobilisation resources have been allocated to the Health Service Executive to support the development of community mobilisation projects. The Government recently approved the allocation of €940,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund to support 17 community based projects aimed at tackling Alcohol Related Harm; the Responsible Server Training Programme was developed in association with the Drinks Industry Group. This programme is now being delivered by the hospitality training body FAILTE; the Health Service Executive continues to roll out alcohol awareness campaigns which are effective in developing media attention, generating public awareness of the issue in addition to developing programmes, initiatives and disseminating a range of relevant materials; and research projects have been undertaken and continue to be undertaken to monitor and inform alcohol policy decision-making.

Sustaining Progress Working Group on Alcohol.

Further impetus was added to the implementation of the Task Force recommendations with the establishment in July 2005 of a Working Group under the Sustaining Progress Special Initiative on Alcohol and Drugs Misuse. Its aim was to mobilise stakeholders through social partnership to achieve a targeted and measurable reduction in alcohol misuse. Their Report entitled "Working Together to Reduce the Harms Caused by Alcohol Misuse" was published in June 2006 and it agreed on a programme of actions to deliver targeted results in relation to underage drinking, binge drinking and drink driving. The report included recommendations on issues such as community mobilisation, workplace alcohol policies, advertising, labelling and education and awareness. An Implementation Group has now been established to monitor and report on progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report. The Implementation Group's membership comprises key stakeholders in Government Departments and Agencies and the Social Partners and is expected to report by the end of 2007.

This Department along with the Health Service Executive (HSE) are working closely together to advance the recommendations of the Sustaining Progress Working Group. In parallel the Department and the HSE have undertaken to review progress on the implementation of the STFA recommendations and to provide a co-ordinated response to the continuing problems associated with problematic alcohol use in Ireland.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 185: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason she has not implemented a report (details supplied) on the regulation of alternative practitioners; when it will be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6301/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Report of the National Working Group on the Regulation of Complementary Therapists was launched in May of last year. The Report makes a number of recommendations in relation to the sector, including the regulation of therapists. The Report noted that "the complementary and alternative therapy community in Ireland is a very disparate one with a broad range of levels of expertise, training and level of association with other practitioners and/or international organisations." It goes on to say that compared with other countries Ireland is at an early stage of forming solid frameworks of associations and federations with which to link and to govern the sector.

The Report makes a number of recommendations on future measures for strengthening the regulatory environment for complementary therapists. These range from a working group to examine statutory registration for a small number of therapies to facilitated workdays and symposia for different therapies to develop greater unity and harmonisation.

Facilitated work days are being organised at present for some of the therapy groups and it is hoped to start these in February–March of this year. It is expected that a number of different therapy associations will come together to undertake a process of harmonisation and development. This will lead to greater unity in the complementary therapy sector and within each individual therapy. It is hoped that the facilitated work days will encourage agreement between different groups for each therapy on common basic standards of practice, education and training. It is also expected that greater unity within the sector will provide a common voice for individual therapies and a common source of information for public, thereby making it easier for consumers to make a judgement on complementary therapies and therapists.

At the same time as the launch of the report, an Information Guide for the public on Complementary Therapy was also launched. This is in keeping with my belief that providing information for consumers of complementary therapy services will play an important part in protecting public safety. The leaflet was prepared following concerns that patients who have a serious illness should be aware of the importance of consulting their doctor even if they are attending a complementary therapist. The leaflet will help people to choose wisely to safeguard their health and its key message is that if people have a condition which could need medical treatment they should visit their doctor first.