The Government has been encouraged to further increase taxes on alcohol in a bid to reduce consumption and the number of health-related problems caused by excessive drinking in the State.
A report published today notes that the cost of alcohol-related problems increased to €2.65 billion last year, despite the first reduction in overall alcohol consumption in the State in 16 years.
The second report from the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol says that this six per cent decline - the first in 16 years - followed the increase in taxes on cider, spirits and alcohol pops in Budget 2002.
However, despite the six per cent reduction in consumption in 2003, Irish people remain the highest consumers of alcohol in Europe, with each adult drinking the equivalent of 13.5 litres of pure alcohol. The report recommends reducing this to 9 litres.
Irish people also binge on alcohol more often than any other European country with 58 per cent of all drinking sessions by men becoming a binge.
The report describes a binge as drinking four pints or six glasses of wine or seven spirits in one evening. Young males between the ages of 18-29 had the highest rate of alcohol consumption with over 70 per cent of drinking sessions resulting in binge drinking.
The drinks industry had sales of nearly €6 billion last year, representing nearly €1,942 for every person in the State over 15-years-of age.
Speaking at the launch of the report this morning, the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said: "there is no doubt that alcohol-related harm is one of the biggest public health issues facing Ireland today from an economic, social and personal standpoint.
"This harm is not limited to the individual drinker but also to those around them and to society. This wide-ranging report, which I will be bringing to Government, contains recommendations relevant to many different sectors in Irish life.
The Minister attributed the decline in alcohol consumption last year to the Government decision to increase excise duty on alcohol in the Budget of December 2002.
In that Budget the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, increased excise duty on cider, spirits and alcohol pops resulting in an increase in alcohol-related taxes from €958 million in 2002 to €989 million last year, excluding VAT.
In the year after this measure was introduced, sales of spirits declined 20 per cent, beer declined by 2.5 per cent with the growth in cider consumption slowing to 1 per cent.
The report recommends further excise increases for alcohol and quotes the results of a British study which indicated a 10 per cent rise in alcohol taxes would lead to a 37 per cent reduction in alcohol-related deaths.
The report also points out that alcohol is estimated to be involved in 40 per cent of all road deaths and 37 per cent of all drownings. For young men, alcohol is reported to be behind the deaths of 25 per cent of all male deaths between the ages of 15 and 29 years-of-age.
