2. Established in 2003/ work to
create awareness of alcohol-
related harm and solutions need
to reduce that harm
Run www.alcoholireland.ie and
www.drinkhelp.ie
Steering group of National
Substance Misuse Strategy
Campaign: minimum pricing –
30 strong NGO coalition in
support
Campaign: children affected by
parental alcohol problems
3. Alcohol consumption in Ireland
increased by 46% between 1987
(9.8 litres) and 2001 (14.3 litres)
Alcohol consumption in 2011-2012
was around 11.6 litres – the
equivalent of every person aged 15+
drinking over 42 bottles of vodka
One in five adults do not drink
alcohol
If every drinker aged 18+ drank to
their maximum low-risk weekly
limits, every week of the
year, consumption levels would be
approx 9 litres
4. Over half of all Irish drinkers report
harmful patterns of drinking; 4 out of 10
women drinkers and 7 out of 10 men
who drink.
(Alcohol Use in Ireland, SLAN 2007)
ESPAD 2011 survey (average age 15):
One in four schoolchildren reported
being drunk in the past month, this
being the third highest rate of
drunkenness of the 35 countries.
Report from Department of Children/
State of the Nation’s Children/ quotes
HBSC 2010/ small decline in children
first trying drinking but numbers getting
drunk consistent with ESPAD
5. Every seven hours, someone in Ireland dies from an alcohol-
related illness: there are almost twice as many deaths due to
alcohol as due to all other drugs combined
Alcoholic liver disease deaths almost trebled (188% increase)
between 1995 and 2009. Figures also reveal considerable increases
of alcohol liver disease among younger age groups
Among 15-34 years olds, the rate of ALD discharges increased by
275%, while for the 35-49 age group, the rate increased by 227%
These increases suggests we are starting to see the effects of the
large increases in alcohol consumption up to 2003
Alcohol-related admissions to acute hospitals doubled between
1995 and 2008
6. The burden of most acute alcohol
related problems arises from
people who drink heavily on
occasion
Health care costs = €1.2bn
Criminal justice = €1.2bn
Road collisions = €526m
Lost output due to work
absences = €330m
To the taxpayer = €3,318
To the shopper - cheap alcohol can
be subsidised by increasing
price of other goods
7. 1 in 11 children living
with parental alcohol
problems
One third of domestic
abuse cases involve
alcohol
Almost half of
perpetrators of homicide
intoxicated
1 in 11 people said they or
family member had been
assaulted by person
drinking
8. 1 in 11 children living
with parental alcohol
problems: enough
children to fill Croke
Park
One in 7 kids in care due
to parental substance
misuse problems
One in 9 kids witnessed
parental conflict due to
alcohol during childhood
9. Problems for parents are problems for children
Parental alcohol problems can and do cause serious
harm to children
Children often suffer the impacts of parental
alcohol and drug problems long before their
parent’s health suffers
Each dependent user of alcohol will negatively
effect the lives of two other close family members
10. One in eleven Irish children say parental drinking has a
negative effect on their lives – that’s 109,684 children
(ISPCC, 2010)
A nationally representative survey of 18-40 year olds found
that when parents drank weekly or more often:
14% said they often felt afraid or unsafe as a result of their
parents’ drinking
14% said they often witnessed conflict between their
parents either when they were drinking or as a result of
their drinking
11% said they often had to take responsibility for a parent
or a sibling
Impact did not differ according to socio-economic class
(Alcohol Action Ireland Keeping It In the Family Survey,
2009)
11. Isolation
Fear and Anxiety
Conflict in the Home
Children take on Parental Responsibilities
Abuse and Neglect
Poverty
Trauma and distress result when
“caregivers not only fail to provide
comfort at times of extreme stress, but are
themselves the principal source of that stress”
12. “They care more about drink than their
children.”
“When they are drunk they are in fighting
mood.”
“He hits me in my sleep when he drinks.”
“It puts you off your work in school as you’re
thinking about it.”
“I don’t get to go anywhere or have fun the
next day because I’m minding my brothers.”
“It upsets me sometimes – I’m scared at times
as well.”
13. 11 committees, 15 reports
1990 Working Group on Alcohol Policy
1996 National Alcohol Policy
1996 Oireachtas Committee on Licensing
2000 Commission on Liquor Licensing
2002 Strategic Task Force on Alcohol
Oireachtas Committees on
Health, Arts, Sports
2005 Sustaining Progress
2007 Government Advisory Group on
Alcohol
2009 Working Group on Sports
Sponsorship by the Alcohol Industry
2011 National Substance Misuse Strategy
2011 Oireachtas Committee on Health
14. Successive Irish governments have
consistently pursued policies shown to be
ineffective in reducing alcohol-related harms
and costs
No national alcohol policy
Pricing
Abolition of Groceries Order 2006
Only three increases in excise since 1994
Budget 201o cut excise on alcohol by 20%
Budget 2013 restored it/ additional increase
on wine
Availability
Increased opening hours
Free movement of licences
15. Establish a Clinical Directorate to develop the clinical
and organisational governance framework to underpin
treatment and rehabilitation services
Develop early intervention guidelines for alcohol and
substance use across all relevant sectors of the health
and social care system. This will include a national
screening and brief intervention protocol for early
identification of problem alcohol use
16. Increase the price of alcohol so that it becomes less affordable
Introduce legislative basis for minimum pricing, along with a
‘social responsibility’ levy on the drinks industry
Commence Section 9 (structural separation of alcohol from other
products in supermarkets, etc) of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008
Introduce legislation and statutory codes to provide for:
a 9.00 p.m. watershed for alcohol advertising on television and radio
alcohol advertising in cinemas to only be associated with films
classified as being suitable for over-18s
prohibition of all outdoor advertising of alcohol
all alcohol advertising in the print media to be subject to stringent
codes, enshrined in legislation and independently monitored
17. 12. Develop comprehensive outcomes and evidence based approach to
addressing needs of children and families experiencing alcohol dependency
problems. This would involve a whole family approach, including the provision
of supports and services directly to children where necessary
This approach should be guided by and co-ordinated with all existing strategies
relating to parenting, children and families and in accordance with edicts from
the Office for the Minister for Children and the Child & Family Agency
13. Explore extent of parental problem substance use through the development
of a strategy similar to Hidden Harm in Northern Ireland and respond to the
needs of children by bringing together all concerned organisations and services
14. Develop family support services
18. Widespread opposition in Government
to advertising and sponsorship
restrictions
Minimum pricing has been progressing
in Scotland and England – to mixed
success
Department of Justice deliberating on
Section 9
Department of Health will draft an
action plan and this will be submitted
Cabinet for approval
Notes de l'éditeur
Ireland is one of 35 countries from across Europe taking part in the survey which is conducted every four years. Over 2000 school-children from across Ireland were interviewed with a mean age of 15.8 years. 50% of the children reported drinking alcohol in the month before interview.Of these, just over half had bought alcohol for their own consumption in an off-license or supermarket, with girls opting for spirits and boys going for beer. This should not come as a surprise as last April, a Garda operation demonstrated that 8 of 12 off-licenses in Louth served a 16 year old boy.Almost four in every five of the young female drinkers consumed alcohol in a bar or nightclub setting, highlighting the hugely ineffective efforts of Gardai to police this issue.One in four of the Irish School-children reported being drunk in the past month, this being the third highest rate of drunkenness of the 35 countries. More girls get drunk than boys and the only girls in Europe to get drunk more regularly than the Irish were the Danes.Given the very lax guidelines on alcohol advertising in Ireland and the fact that the alcohol industry sponsors the sports with the highest youth participation in the country it is not surprising that these Irish children have the second highest levels of positive expectations of drinking, linking it with having fun and being friendly. Worryingly, over half of these children see alcohol as something which is likely to help them to forget their problems.15% of the children said that their drinking had resulted in an accident or injury in the past year. Accidents are one of the major causes of death in adolescents and alcohol has a well established role in such deaths.The ESPAD survey was last conducted in 2007, towards the end of the Celtic tiger and near the peak of adult alcohol consumption in Ireland. While measures of drinking by Irish children remain very high by European standards, there are some positive changes over the last four years. As more parents get the message that drinking by teenagers is a bad idea, the proportion of these 4th year student who have never had a drink has risen from 14% in 2007 to 19% in 2011. The proportion drinking in the past month has fallen slightly from 56% in 2007 to 50% in 2011, mirroring the slight fall in alcohol consumption by adults in these more difficult financial times.In terms of drinking preferences my Irish children, not too much has changed in the past four years. While the dominant drink for Irish girls remains spirits, a growing proportion are opting for beer and cider. While beer remains the dominant drink for boys, 60% of male drinkers also consume spirits, but they have moved away from alcopops in recent years.
Many cancers, including cancer of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectum and female breast, have a causal relationship to alcohol consumptionFor example, drinking one standard drink a day is associated with a 9% increase in the risk of developing breast cancer. Drinking 3-6 standard drinks increases the risk by 41% - three standard drinks is less than half a bottle of wine. Ireland has the second highest cancer rate in the worldRisk of most conditions increases even at low levels of consumption15% of the children said that their drinking had resulted in an accident or injury in the past year. Accidents are one of the major causes of death in adolescents and alcohol has a well established role in such deaths. (ESPAD 2011)Heavy drinking increases impulsivity, risk-taking, loss of inhibitions and poor co-ordination, which in turn is related to falls, injuries, assault as well as suicide. The one in four people who end up in A&E for alcohol-related reasons (falls, assaults, road collisions) didn’t factor a visit to A&E as part of their night out. In fact, the burden of most acute alcohol-related problems arises from people who drink heavily on occasion rather than the heaviest drinkers – the reason for this is the harms caused by the high numbers of occasional heavy drinkers in the population outweigh those caused by the smaller numbers of chronic drinkers. Alcohol is a factor in one in four traumatic brain injuries
That’s 12% of our total healthcare budgetIn Ireland, if we look at the outcomes due both entirely to alcohol, such as alcoholic liver disease, and the outcomes partially due to alcohol, such as road traffic accidents and cancers, alcohol is responsible for approximately 100 deaths per month, 2000 beds occupied every night in hospitals around the country, 3 out of every 10 emergency department attendances and 7% of GP consultations. These health effects are avoidable and preventable.If we look at young people in particular one in four deaths in young men (15-34) is due to alcohol compared with 1 in 12 deaths due to cancers and one in 25 deaths due to circulatory disease. We no longer accept that people have to die from cancer and heart disease, so how can we ignore the fact that so many more of our young people are dying from alcohol than anything else?There are more than 4 times as many deaths due to alcohol as due to all other drugs combined.We all pay for someone else’s drinking – even if we don’t drink ourselveswe pay as taxpayers, an estimated €3,318 each, as consumers when the price of essentials such as bread and milk costs more, so the supermarket can subsidise the cheap vodka and beer sold in the next aisle.
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
DV alcohol neither an excuse nor an explanation
2003 which led to a 6% reduction in total alcohol consumption, the first drop in alcohol consumption in 16 yearsCut in excise led to an increase in alcohol sales Alcohol 50% more affordable than it was in 1996Increase in off-licences (2,879 in 2003 to 4,557 in 2008)Governments have choices – have chosen not to implement policies shown to reduce levels of alcohol-related harms and costs. Instead have chosen policies that have increased the availability and affordability of alcohol, policies which have weaved alcohol into our day-to-day lives, normalised drink as part of our family shop, as an essential element of every celebration, including children’s birthday parties and first communions.
What is the Hidden Harm Strategy (2003)We estimate there are between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problem drug users in the UK – about one for every problemdrug user.• Parental problem drug use can and does cause serious harm to children at every age from conception to adulthood.• Reducing the harm to children from parental problem drug use should become a main objective of policy and practice.• Effective treatment of the parent can have major benefits for the child.• By working together, services can take many practical steps to protect and improve the health and well-being of affected children.• The number of affected children is only likely to decrease when the number of problem drug users decreases.The Hidden Harm Action Plan (Northern Ireland)The plan takes account of the views of stakeholders across Northern Ireland including children affected by Hidden Harm, their parents and carers, front line workers, managers and commissioners in the HSC and key individuals from other statutory, voluntary and community organisations whose work can contribute to this agenda. It sets out to draw together what has been learned from wide consultation. It describes those actions that must be taken to ensure that children and young people who experience compromised parenting due to alcohol and/or drug abuse can receive the support they need to reduce harm today and assure their health and well-being in the future.To effectively address Hidden Harm it is essential that it be viewed firstly as a children and young people’s issue. Therefore the action plan places emphasis on the role of services supporting children and families, including those outside Health and Social Care, notably in Education and Community & Voluntary Sectors.Family Support Services to include: access to information about addiction and the recovery process for family members peer-led family support groups to help families cope with problematic drinking evidence-based family and parenting skills programmesReconciliation of problem drinkers with estranged family members where possible Development of short-stay respite programme for families of problem drinkers