Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 June 2004
11 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on alcohol misuse by young persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18359/04]
View answer29 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps he intends to take to implement the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on alcohol abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18486/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 29 together.
I welcome the publication of this report and thank the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children for its time and efforts in its preparation. I have outlined my concerns on the matter of alcohol abuse and on the measures being taken to address this issue in the House on a number of occasions. The strategic focus of my Department as regards alcohol abuse is on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the interim report of the strategic task force on alcohol and on the interdepartmental group established to progress its recommendations.
Progress has been made in a number of areas since the publication of the interim report of the task force. In the December 2002 budget, excise duty on spirits was increased. As a result, spirits sales significantly decreased, confirming the international research that increased taxes influence alcohol consumption. It is expected that this decrease in consumption will contribute towards a decrease in alcohol-related harm in the medium term.
A number of measures in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 address issues such as serving alcohol to intoxicated customers and so forth. The task force recommended that legislation be introduced to reduce the exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol marketing. The heads of a Bill have been agreed by Government and work is ongoing on its preparation.
As regards the recommendations calling for research and systematic data collection, my Department has undertaken extensive research on alcohol-related issues. The task force is finalising a second report which will bring forward a further set of recommendations aimed at tackling this problem. However, I have requested officials from my Department to review the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children and to identify areas where progress can be made.
I thank the Minister for his reply and wish to ask him about specific recommendations made in this report. One relates to the increase in excise duty on alcopops. The Minister has made the point that increasing excise duty has an impact on consumption. Does he agree with the committee's findings that the excise duty on these products should be increased significantly? In light of his pending legislation, does he agree that there should be an end to alcohol advertising and sports sponsorship? Is he comfortable, for example, with the idea that the GAA accepts so much sponsorship from companies that promote alcohol to such a degree? Is this something he can live with or does he intend to deal with this issue of advertising and sponsorship effectively in his legislation?
In terms of taxation, that in the first instance is a matter for the Minister for Finance.
Does the Minister have an opinion?
We submit representations on an annual basis for increased excise duty on alcohol, especially spirits. As I said in my reply, they were accepted and there was a significant increase in the duty on spirits and alcopops in the budget before last. The reduction in alcopop consumption was dramatic in the aftermath of that budget increase. We took action on that and it resulted in a decline in the sale of spirits in the aftermath of that budget increase.
In terms of the advertising issue, I suspect we cannot have a total ban. This is a matter we will explore with the European Commission. Our initial legislative response is to examine advertising in so far as it is directed at young people and children and in so far as they are exposed to wrong advertisements in terms of content. The legislation will affect both the content and timing of the advertisements. These are issues we are examining. It should be borne in mind, however, and I have some experience of this in terms of the tobacco legislation, that the Internal Market pillar of the European Union treaty is strong and not easily circumvented in terms of a total ban on the advertisement of a product such as alcohol. It could be argued, for instance, that one drink is not bad for a person but four or five are. That is the difficulty. These are matters we are exploring with the Office of the Attorney General. I do not believe a total ban is possible.
In terms of sponsorship, almost every sport is affected. It is wrong to single out any one sport as regards sponsorship because nearly all major sports have alcohol companies as major sponsors. One can go from the Heineken Cup to the Amstel Champions League to Guinness and the GAA and so on in terms of major sport sponsorship. I am not comfortable with that. My views have been placed on record on regular occasions. Again, we want to concentrate on preventing sponsorship of under age activities and activities in which young people engage. If we can achieve that on the advertising and sponsorship fronts, an important step forward will have been taken.
We have commissioned a significant degree of research with general practitioners and with consultants in terms of the accident and emergency situation as regards alcohol issues. It is a matter of getting a better analysis of what is happening among the general population, including those who present at hospitals or visit their GPs. That research will inform further policy developments. We have succeeded in getting the governing bodies of colleges to change their policies and have more proactive alcohol controls on the campuses of many universities. One clear example was where a drinks company sponsored young students to promote, sell and give free alcohol to societies and guilds. That practice has been stopped on our university campuses. There has been an improvement in awareness and so on. We will study the recommendations of the committee and will be pleased to discuss them further.
Most of the actions to which the Minister has pointed are reactive. These include the increase in excise duties, advertising charges, identity cards and a raft of other measures that are reactive. I wonder if he has given any consideration to proactive measures. The Minister for Finance has provided tax breaks to a number of sectors, including for the provision of multi-storey car parks and holiday homes to name just a couple. He cannot inform us of the actual cost these represent to the Exchequer and it would be difficult to measure their social contribution. There would, however, be no question of the social value and contribution of tax incentives for the provision of alternative leisure pursuit opportunities for young people.
I invite the Minister to examine this area as regards young people in general and not just those who are under age. It is highlighted repeatedly that there are limited outlets for young people within great swathes of this State. Recommendations to remedy this would include alternative evening leisure pursuits and non-alcohol bar opportunities so that young people would have a choice. I do not believe it will happen just by expecting the economic forces to create it, even if the Progressive Democrats might recommend it. It will need encouragement, direction and support. What is the Minister's response to those points?
I agree there is a need for a proactive approach. We are adopting such an approach. I support the No Name Club, an organisation which engages in the activities mentioned by the Deputy. It is led by the great former Kilkenny hurler, Eddie Keher. The club has set up branches across the country and is quite strong in some counties. We have helped it to appoint permanent co-ordinators. It organises activities for young people, with no alcohol as the key theme, and is working quite well. We need to support such organisations on an ongoing basis. We also need to support abstinence movements which go into schools to educate young people about alcohol, etc.
In the educational context, the Walk Tall programme in primary schools has been proactive in introducing a well thought-out and well researched multidisciplinary programme. It introduces children to the benefits of developing strong character and independence of thought and mind. Above all, it teaches children about self-esteem and trust so they can have confidence in themselves. This is particularly important when children are threatened or presented in an environment of peer pressure, with alcohol or other addictive substances.
The lottery grant has been superb in bringing about a transformation in sports facilities throughout the country. We cannot keep saying for the next 20 years that things are as bad as they always were, as that is not the case.
Things are as bad as ever in some counties.
There are far more sports halls in parishes than was previously the case.
What happens when people leave the sports halls?
The drug task forces have been quite useful in some areas of significant economic disadvantage.
People need somewhere to go as an alternative.
The task forces have undertaken important steps such as the development of alcohol-free café facilities, etc.
As a member of the Joint Committee on Health and Children I am biased but I think the report we have produced is very good. The €2 billion that is being wasted every year could be saved if alcohol was used properly. The Minister knows that such funds could be put to good use in many hospitals. The moneys could be used to open the 26 elderly assessment beds which have been lying idle in Mayo General Hospital since 2001, or to do something about the 14 trolleys that are downstairs for older people who are not fit to go to nursing homes. No beds are available for such people who have been sent in by their GPs.
The money could be used at Beaumont Hospital.
The Minister did not come to the Joint Committee on Health and Children to discuss the radiotherapy report, even though he had promised to do so. He kept putting it off.
That is not true.
He announced a week in advance that he would not come to the meeting.
We are talking about alcohol.
The Minister did not turn up for the radiotherapy meeting. He gave notice a week in advance that he would not meet the joint committee to speak about the radiotherapy report.
We are not talking about radiotherapy.
I mention the Minister's failure to attend as a member of the committee that produced the report under discussion. The Minister will agree that the report on alcohol misuse has some good elements. I was disappointed that its central recommendation that there should be a ban on alcohol advertising within two years was completely rejected.
Where?
It was rejected by the Government.
No, the Deputy is wrong.
A statement was issued saying that it was not a practical situation.
I did not issue any statement.
It was in the media. I hope the Minister will state that he favours a total ban on alcohol advertising within two years. It would be a wonderful thing. Is the Minister prepared to allocate the necessary resources to ensure the laws that are in place to tackle alcohol misuse are implemented? I refer to the proposal to recruit 2,000 additional gardaí, for example. The recruitment of so many extra gardaí would do wonders for the situation.
The Deputy should have ran for Europe.
One cannot even have a smoke.
Sport is promoted in this country from a health perspective. The Minister constantly talks about the promotion of sport, which we read about in the media. I have doubts about the merits of a total prohibition on alcohol advertising. I would like to make a point about the sponsorship of sporting activities. Would it not be fair to signal to organisations which depend on alcohol sponsorship that the days of such sponsorship are coming to an end? If one is to speak about the promotion of sport among young people, it is hypocritical to allow sport to be associated with alcohol.
I wish to discuss the issue of banning this and that. I think Deputy Mitchell is right to signal that the legality of what we do in respect of advertising and sponsorship has to be teased out properly before we make a move in that regard. While it is the case that one of my spokespersons pointed out on my behalf the difficulties of the committee's blanket absolute recommendation that all alcohol advertising be banned, I remind Deputy Cowley that I did not reject anything. There are hurdles to be jumped in terms of EU law. I welcomed the joint committee's report.
What about those who are targeting children?
I am working on that. We are drafting legislation on advertising and sponsorship in so far as it applies to children and young people. We think we are on a strong footing on public health grounds.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
