A new €1 million fund is being made available to tackle alcohol abuse.
This has been announced today at The Alcohol Forum’s third annual conference by the Minister for Heath Leo Varadkar.
Speaking about the issue, Varadkar, said, “Ireland has a serious problem – we drink too much alcohol.”
"When we drink, we tend to binge drink. More than half of adult drinkers in the population are classified as harmful drinkers."
He went on to state that the aim of the government is reduce alcohol consumption down to the OECD average which is currently 9.1 litres per person a year.
Speaking at the conference, CEO of Alcohol Forum, Kieran Doherty, said, “over consumption of alcohol affects the economy, local communities and families across the country and can be directly attributed to around 88 deaths a month.”
Source: Michael Sheils McNamee, thejournal, 23/04/15