Written answers
Tuesday, 1 July 2014
Department of Health
Substance Misuse
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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509. To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding alcohol abuse here (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28119/14]
Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Report of the Steering Group on a National Substance Misuse Strategy, 2012 noted that the majority of Irish people drink in a harmful manner. The report further noted that the harms caused by the misuse of alcohol were estimated to cost the Exchequer €3.7 billion euros in 2007 representing 1.9% of Gross National Product that year. The figure is taken from the report Costs to Society of Problem Alcohol Use in Ireland, 2011. The estimate is based on the methods used in similar reports from other developed countries including the United Kingdom and used data from surveys and surveillance systems. The costs are broken down as follows:
| - | € million | % of Total Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to the healthcare system of alcohol-related illnesses | 1,200 | 32 |
| Cost of alcohol-related crime | 1,189 | 32 |
| Cost of alcohol-related road accidents | 526 | 14 |
| Cost of output lost due to alcohol-related absence from work | 330 | 9 |
| Cost of alcohol-related accidents at work | 197 | 5 |
| Cost of alcohol-related suicides | 167 | 5 |
| Cost of alcohol-related premature mortality | 110 | 3 |
| Total | 3,719 | 100 |
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