Dublin South West Seán Crowe TD has criticised the Government’s lack of any plan or realistic measures aimed at tackling alcohol misuse in Irish society. Alcohol has been included in the work of Drug Task Forces since 2012 but with no additional mainstream resources, Crowe believes it is simply not a credible approach.
The Sinn Fein representative made his comments after attending a joint meeting of the Ballyfermot and Tallaght Drugs & Alcohol Task Forces Conference called ‘Alcohol- What’s the harm’.
The conference heard that alcohol poisoning has the highest rating when it comes to drug deaths. 11% of all the healthcare budget or 1.5 billion euro is spent annually on beds (3.6% of all day beds) every day in our hospitals treating alcohol related symptoms.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“Many of us drink alcohol but there is another side to drinking and the harm generated from the way we drink, the harm it causes to the individual, families and wider society as a whole.

“Alcohol misuse in Ireland currently claims three lives a day and is also responsible for a huge burden on our health services. It’s responsible for 11% of the health budget. 1,500 beds are occupied by people with alcohol-related illnesses every night, at an estimated cost of €1.5 billion annually.

“As a country we have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Harm that is caused by drinking extends far beyond the individuals who are drinking and impacts on their wider families, communities, schools, hospitals and businesses throughout Ireland. Alcohol also plays a major role in serious issues such as drink-driving, assaults, suicide, self-harm, domestic violence and child protection.

“Since 2012 the Government has included alcohol in the work of all Drug Task Forces but have failed to deliver any mainstream funding and put the onus back on local areas to deliver more with less.

“The most recent figures from 1995 to 2013 show that 17,120 people died from drug related poisoning with alcohol featuring in the majority of deaths.

“Alcohol is the State’s biggest killer when it comes to all death by poisoning.

“If this amount of people died on our roads in one year there would be an outcry and rightly so.

“Drug and Alcohol Task Forces clearly need additional resources and support. It is unreasonable and stretching credibility to think that by lumping alcohol onto the Task Force workload that it is somehow sorted.

“Alcohol is the number 1 killer, it needs to be taken more seriously by Government.”