618. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the World Health Organisation’s recent report (details supplied); if he accepts the WHO findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41213/24]

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Colm Burke): The latest HRB report on Alcohol: availability, affordability, related harm, and policy in Ireland | HRB | Health Research Board (www.hrb.ie/publication/alcohol-availability-affordability-related-harm-and-policy-in-ireland/ assesses the current situation in Ireland regarding alcohol use and harm, as well as policy responses; analyses trends over time; and contributes towards assessing the impact of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018.

Alcohol-related harm can be caused not only by the volume of alcohol consumed, but also by patterns of drinking, and can include harms to health, violence, and social harms. An effective estimate of alcohol-related harm is the number of hospitalisations due to alcohol use. The number of alcohol-related hospitalisations increased by 16.4% between 2001 and 2021, from 16,219 to 18,877 but when considering the population growth Ireland has seen in this period, it represents a 17.1% decrease per 100,000 of the population. Adjusting for population growth, rates of alcohol-related liver disease per 100,000 of the population have increased by 79.9% in the 20- year period from 2001 to 2021.

Survey data indicate that more than one-quarter (27.6%) of drinkers aged 15–24 years reported experiencing harm due to their own alcohol use in the 2019–20 NDAS. Hazardous or harmful drinkers were more likely to report experiencing harm from their own drinking. Accidentally hurting oneself (10.2%) and harms to health (8.0%) were the most common harms reported from their own drinking. One in every 10 respondents reported experiencing harm to family (10.8%) and 6.0% reported being a passenger with a drunk driver as the harms experienced from others’ drinking.

The WHO report in question is a technical manual alcohol on tax policy and administration, which falls within the remit of the Department of Finance. As a complement to tax policies, the manual references minimum pricing, a policy used to set a floor price below which alcoholic beverages cannot be sold. Ireland is highlighted as a country that has introduced minimum pricing.

The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 set a minimum unit price of 10c per gram of alcohol. Minimum unit pricing targets strong cheap alcohol because the minimum price is determined by the amount of alcohol in a product. Addressing the availability of cheap strong alcohol products will reduce the disease and death caused by the harmful use of alcohol and will ensure that cheap strong alcohol is not available to children and young people at pocket money prices.

I am aware of the harms of alcohol and the cost to the health services of dealing with these harms, and am committed to reducing alcohol consumption through public health measures.

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Dáil Éireann debate. Question 619 - Substance misuse [Alcohol] [41213/24]

619. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of research (details supplied) from Canada; if he accepts that the burden from alcohol in Ireland is likely similar; and if he accepts the need for a dedicated alcohol strategy to be in place when the current drug and alcohol strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, concludes in 2025. [41214/24]

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Colm Burke): The latest HRB report on Alcohol: availability, affordability, related harm, and policy in Ireland | HRB | Health Research Board (www.hrb.ie/publication/alcohol-availability-affordability-related-harm-and-policy-in-ireland/) assesses the current situation in Ireland regarding alcohol use and harm, as well as policy responses; analyses trends over time; and contributes towards assessing the impact of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018.

Alcohol-related harm can be caused not only by the volume of alcohol consumed, but also by patterns of drinking, and can include harms to health, violence, and social harms. An effective estimate of alcohol-related harm is the number of hospitalisations due to alcohol use. The number of alcohol-related hospitalisations increased by 16.4% between 2001 and 2021, from 16,219 to 18,877 but when considering the population growth Ireland has seen in this period, it represents a 17.1% decrease per 100,000 of the population. Adjusting for population growth, rates of alcohol-related liver disease per 100,000 of the population have increased by 79.9% in the 20- year period from 2001 to 2021.

Survey data indicate that more than one-quarter (27.6%) of drinkers aged 15–24 years reported experiencing harm due to their own alcohol use in the 2019–20 NDAS. Hazardous or harmful drinkers were more likely to report experiencing harm from their own drinking. Accidentally hurting oneself (10.2%) and harms to health (8.0%) were the most common harms reported from their own drinking. One in every 10 respondents reported experiencing harm to family (10.8%) and 6.0% reported being a passenger with a drunk driver as the harms experienced from others’ drinking

It is a strategic action in the Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan 2021-2025 to refresh and oversee implementation of the Healthy Ireland Alcohol Policy. Implementation actions are

- Provide measures at community level to delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people

- Introduce minimum unit pricing in consultation and collaboration with Northern Ireland.

Separately, the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery , is a health-led response to drug and alcohol use, and runs from 2017 to 2025. The Strategic action plan for 2023-2024, contains 34 actions across six strategic priorities. Three of the strategic priorities have a focus on alcohol use:• strengthen the prevention of drug and alcohol use and the associated harms among children and young people,• enhance access to and delivery of drug and alcohol services in the community and• develop harm reduction responses and integrated care pathways for high risk drug users. The Department intends to commission an independent evaluation of the strategy in Q4 2024. It is expected that the evaluation will be completed in early 2025.I am fully aware of the harms of alcohol and drug. It is my ambition that the next national drugs strategy will reduce the use of drugs and alcohol at an early age, meet the growing demand for treatment services for problematic drug and alcohol use and support recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.