asked the Minister for Health his policy in relation to workers who have a problem with alcohol; and if any directives have been given to employers on this important matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Worker Alcohol Problem.
9.
Welfare officers have been appointed in some Government Departments and are available to help staff with personal problems such as alcoholism. In the private sector, the Irish National Council on Alcoholism are actively engaged in encouraging firms to adopt formal policies regarding alcoholism among employees and to date they have had some limited success.
I understand that the Employer/ Labour Conference have set up a working party to examine the whole problem of alcoholism as it relates to industry.
Will the Minister not agree that there still appears to be an old-fashioned idea in relation to the problem of alcohol, that it is not recognised as a disease? As a result of this many people find themselves out of employment because they do not get help.
It is difficult to make a generalisation but my idea is that the alcoholic would be helped in every way so that he might be rehabilitated, not only in society but in his job also.
Is the Minister satisfied that the facilities available for the treatment of alcoholism are adequate?
I would not say they were entirely adequate.
The Minister has stated that welfare officers have been appointed to Government Departments. Do such officers operate outside the confines of Dublin city? Will the Minister not agree that the approach in some Departments to this problem is most inhuman and archaic?
I can only speak for my own Department. That has not been my experience there. The welfare officers to whom I referred in my reply are confined to particular Departments, and perhaps one is associated with two Departments.
Are their activities confined to the Dublin area only?
Yes.
Would the Minister not accept that this problem exists outside the confines of the Dublin area? In other areas the Minister will find that the approach of the various Government Departments is most inhuman.
Is it not the case that alcoholism is regarded as misbehaviour rather than a disease or a disability?
It is a mixture of both. My approach to the matter—and I have demonstrated this in my own Department recently—is to help the unfortunate rather than to punish him, of course within certain limits.
Will the Minister not agree that, as a result of the budget, the main problem workers have is in relation to the price of drink?
I am calling Question No. 10.