Irish teens among worst binge drinkers in EU

A HIKE in taxes on alcohol has been ordered by the European Commission on the strength of a report to be published next month which will reveal that we are among the worst binge drinkers in Europe.

The report shows that Irish and Estonian teenagers are becoming "blind drunk" more often than those of any other member state.

It reveals that teenagers, and in particular young Irish girls, drink large amounts of alcohol several times a month, and the average age for the first drink has fallen from 15 years for the parent generation to 11.8 years for the teenagers of today.