Youth lobby criticises alcohol proposals
Friday, 11 January 2008 23:03
Ireland's youth lobby has criticised proposals to restrict over the counter sales of alcohol to over 21s.
The National Youth Council of Ireland has said it ignores official findings that adults are almost five times more likely than under 18s to be convicted of drunkenness.
In a statement welcoming Minister Brian Lenihan's establishment of an alcohol advisory group, the council criticises proposals to restrict supermarket, garage and off-license drink sales to over-21s.
Council Director, Mary Cunningham says that attributing binge drinking and public order offences to young people ignores the bigger picture outlined by the Central Statistics Office.
She says CSO records say that in the first nine months of last year 6,904 offences of drunkenness were committed by adults, compared to 1,457 by people under the age of 18.
Meanwhile, four and a half times more public order offences were attributed to adults than to under 18s.
Ms Cunningham says these and similar figures for 2006 show that Ireland has a population wide problem with alcohol misuse and that it is not just confined to people under the age 18.
She reiterates calls for the Government to implement the three-year-old recommendations of the Strategic Taskforce on Alcohol, which include regulating availability, controlling marketing and developing effective treatment services.
