Health Committee to continue its examination of alcohol marketing

The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children will conclude its examination of the effects of alcohol marketing on young people with a number of meetings this week.

Tomorrow, Wednesday 14th, the Committee will meet with representatives from the Health Service Executive; the College of Psychiatry; and  FASD Ireland (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders). On Thursday, 15th December, representatives from Retail Ireland and Ballymun Youth Action Project Ltd will address the Committee on alcohol marketing and young people.

Committee Chairman, Jerry Buttimer TD said: “This week we will wrap up our examination of the effects of alcohol marketing on young people. We are looking forward to hearing from  representatives from the Health Service Executive; the College of Psychiatry; FASD Ireland (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders); Retail Ireland and Ballymun Youth Action Project Ltd.

Over the past number of months, we have met with a wide range of interested parties, stakeholders, industry groups, health organisations and youth groups to ensure we got a complete overview and also a thorough understanding of the major issues involved in alcohol marketing and its impact on young people.

To date, we have heard some worrying facts and figures and are concerned with the marked increase in the levels of alcohol use in our young people. The availability of cheap alcohol combined with the advertising methods and marketing techniques used to promote alcohol use by young people need to be examined and highlighted.

The opinions, views and information provided by the various bodies and groups we have met over the past number of months are vital to the issue of how alcohol is presented and marketed to young people and will help inform our report on this important issue.

We are on target with our preparation and planned publication of our report on our findings.  As I have previously said, I intend that our report will assist the Government in its plans to address the problem of alcohol misuse in a comprehensive and meaningful way.”

The meeting with representatives from the Health Service Executive; the College of Psychiatry; and  FASD Ireland (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders) will take place in Committee Room 1, Leinster House at 3pm on Wednesday 14th December.

The meeting with representatives from Retail Ireland and Ballymun Youth Action Project Ltd will be held in Committee Room 2 at 11.30am on Thursday, 15th December.

Source: oireachtas.ie