We must act on underage drinking

Over the past decade this country had the highest per capita rise in alcohol consumption in the European Union.

We have a particularly young age profile, so that ranking may not be all that surprising, but what is frightening is that the level of consumption here rose by about eight times more than any other country in the period.

The National Off-Licence Association established a Responsible Trading in the Community scheme yesterday to help tackle the problem of underage drinking by formally training members of the association on the best way to communicate to the public their commitment to trading responsibly in the community. They plan to send young people into their accredited outlets on a regular basis to ensure that they are being asked for identification.