Minister of State with responsibility for Primary Care, Roisín Shortall, T.D. today (11th July 2012) welcomed the publication by the Health Research Board of a new survey ‘Alcohol: Public Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours’. Conducted by Ipsos MRBI, the wide-ranging survey is an important indicator of Irish people’s views on the consumption, marketing and selling of alcohol. It also gauges responses to alcohol-related health and social harms.

Minister Shortall noted that these findings underscore the imperative of the work of the Department of Health in seeking to implement the recommendations of the National Substance Misuse Strategy report. The survey found that 85% of those questioned believe that alcohol consumption in Ireland is too high and 78% believe that the government has a responsibility to implement public health measures to address high alcohol consumption.

Minister Shortall noted “We need to tackle our alcohol consumption and the harms that alcohol is responsible for. The Department of Health is developing an Action Plan on Alcohol based on the recommendations of the Substance Misuse Strategy. Proposals in this regard will be brought to Government next week.”