Alcohol abuse costs State €2bn

ALCOHOL abuse costs the economy €2 billion annually, accounts for 25% of hospital admissions and most public order offences, a conference heard yesterday.

Barry Cullen of the Addiction Research Centre (ARC) at Trinity College Dublin said new resources were needed to tackle the problem and he recommended the integration of alcohol and drug treatment strategies.

There was ‘little point’ to the report of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol - due to be published next week - if it “cannot deliver new resources”. He criticised previous national alcohol policy.