Alcohol harm is a significant burden on the Irish state costing at least €3.7 billion annually in direct costs in health, social protection and justice and likely twice that amount when accounting for harm to others. 1500 hospital beds are in use every day for alcohol related illness and costing at least 11% of the health care budget. 15% of the population have an alcohol use disorder – almost 600,000 of which 90,000 have a severe problem. Four people die every day from alcohol – 1460 annually - nearly ten times the number who die on our roads. Alcohol has a significant impact on the workplace and productivity. The OECD estimates that alcohol use will cause Ireland’s GDP to be 1.9% lower between now and 2050 if no action is taken to reduce use.