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.

Mr Cullen said it was a “seriously flawed” policy to expect service provision to change through existing providers redirecting personnel resources from other service areas.

“Lessons need to be learned from the National Drug Strategy. Despite different reports, over a period of 15 years, advocating change, the changes did not come about until a major investment of personnel, professional knowledge and resources in 1996.”

He said the burden of health and social harm with respect to alcohol was much greater. Drink is a factor in 88% of public order offences handled by gardaí.

Irish College of General Practitioners project director Rolande Anderson, suggested a cost-effective approach in the fight against alcoholism. He said the system of ‘brief interventions’ appeared to be particularly effective for people engaging in hazardous drinking.

These talks, typically five-15 minutes, are given by healthcare professionals in the workplace, hospitals and universities.

ARC academic director Dr Shane Butler said national and regional healthcare managers had largely ignored the alcohol section of the 1984 mental health planning document Planning for the Future.