PUBLIC health doctors have called for mandatory rehabilitation for anyone found guilty of drink driving.

SOME people living in rural Ireland may have difficulty getting home from the pub after a few drinks but keeping the present limit at 80mg (the highest in Europe along with Britain) is not a solution to their problem.

YOUR recent contributors on the drink-driving issue missed the point – if Dr Declan Bedford’s statistical methodology is incorrect, the conclusions are wrong.

THE letter (August 31) from Padraig Cribbens, chief executive of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) left me breathless and somewhat surprised that a person in such a responsible position would in the course of a selective and self-serving presentation of data have the audacity to claim that Dr Declan Bedford, acting director of public health with the HSE – who enjoys a national and international reputation – presented flawed research to an international conference.

IN his letter headlined ‘Drink drive theory challenged’ (August 18), Michael Job refers to scientific research carried out by Dr Declan Bedford.

IN his letter headlined ‘Reducing legal drink limit will save countless lives’ (August 20), Dr Declan Bedford, replying to my criticism of his ‘research’ (August 18) is changing his tune.

IN his letter (August 20), Dr Declan Bedford refers to research in respect of the effect of reducing the legal limit for drink-driving.

I READ with dismay recently about Fianna Fáil deputy Mattie McGrath’s anger at Transport Minister Noel Dempsey’s proposal to bring legislation before the Dáil in the autumn to reduce the legal drink driving limit.

THE Road Safety Authority (RSA) has warned that more lives will be lost on the roads unless the Government confirms funding for the provision of speed cameras in today’s budget.

More than a third of deaths on Irish roads from 2003 to 2005 were drink-related, a shocking study revealed today.

CONSUMERS could face a €2 rise in the price of cigarettes and a huge 20% jump in the levy on spirits if the latest health-based budget proposals are introduced by the Finance Minister next week.

A REPORT by a Government-appointed Alcohol Advisory Group due to be presented to Justice Minister Brian Lenihan today is expected to recommend restrictions on the sale of alcohol through off-licences.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Brian Lenihan announced today that the Government has approved his proposal to establish an Advisory Group to examine key aspects of the law governing the sale and consumption of alcohol.

A CO MAYO coroner has described as “alarming” the growing number of alcohol-related deaths in young women.

DOCTORS want the Government to introduce a graduated licensing system for new drivers as this has been proven to reduce young driver crash fatalities.

The Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has called on Brian Cowen to raise excise duties on tobacco and alcohol in next week's Budget.

THE drinks industry has rejected doctors’ calls for increasing the price of spirits by half in the next Budget, arguing alcohol consumption is a personal choice unlinked to cost.

Half the deaths on Ireland’s roads this year could have been prevented if the Government had implemented a promised road safety strategy, campaigners said today.

ALCOHOL is a “fundamental cause” of the massive increase in suicide in recent years, an Oireachtas sub-committee heard yesterday.

DRINK-DRIVERS are playing Russian roulette with their own lives and the lives of others, it was claimed yesterday.

Drink-drivers are playing Russian roulette with their own lives and the lives of others, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen warned at the launch of the Christmas drink-driving blitz.

MORE THAN half underage drinkers typically buy alcohol themselves in a pub, according to a survey.

ADMISSIONS of drunk people to acute hospitals have shot up by 80%, a study found yesterday.

The Irish Medical Organisation has called for tachometers to be fitted in all State cars in an effort to stop ministers and other officials from flouting the speeding laws.

EVERYONE needs to recognise depression in a bid to reduce the suicide rate, a medical expert said yesterday.

The Irish Medical Organisation has criticised the government's national alcohol awareness campaign, claiming that it does not go far enough.