Call for 1% of alcohol profits to tackle abuse

AN expert in treating alcohol addiction has called on the drinks industry to ringfence 1% of its annual profits towards the research and treatment of alcohol abuse.

Dr Conor Farren, a consultant psychiatrist at St Patrick’s University Hospital and clinical senior lecturer at Trinity College in Dublin, also estimated that as many as 250,000 Irish people suffer from alcoholism – an addiction that has direct health costs of €960 million a year.

“Just like the religious orders having to take responsibility for the consequences of their misbehaviour in relation to institutional child abuse, so the drinks industry must take responsibility for the consequences of their reckless promotion and profiteering over many years,” Dr Farren said.