Ireland needs to stop bringing state visitors to Guinness Storehouse - Alcohol Action Ireland

Governments worldwide are not being courageous enough when it comes to addressing alcohol exposure.

That is according to an expert who addressed the Global Alcohol Policy Conference in Dublin today.

Affordability, availability and marketing are the three biggest factors causing a rise in alcohol exposure.

A UN-set target of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025 is set to be missed with use actually increasing on a global scale.

Dr Jurgen Rehm from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada estimates that soon over half of the world's adult population will drink.

Dr Rehm says many governments are not prepared to be courageous and introduce measures such as minimum unit pricing.

"The government have the tools to do something about taxation, it requires governments to step up and a lot of the governments are not willing to do those things."

Carol Fawsitt from Alcohol Action Ireland says a challenge here is the country's association with drinking.

The group says we need to break the association of alcohol with St Patrick's Day and bringing state visitors to the Guinness Storehouse.