Alcohol abuse is rampant in the State and is getting worse, with the highest incidence of binge drinking in Europe, a leading psychiatrist said yesterday.
Dr Conor Farren, St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin, told an Oireachtas committee that the conservative estimate was that five per cent of the population was alcohol dependent and seven per cent alcohol abusive.
"Which would suggest that there are 200,000 alcoholics in Ireland and a further 280,000 alcohol abusive," he said.
The State had the highest incidence of binge drinking in Europe in men and it was increasing in women, Dr Farren said. He defined binge drinking as six drinks for a male and five for a woman. "Most drinkers would fall off their bar stools at that definition," he commented.
There had been an increase in alcohol consumption of 40 per cent over the 10 years to 2003.
"This is unprecedented in Irish history and against the trend for Europe overall. We essentially went from normal drinkers to alcohol abusers as a nation in this 10-year period," he said.
He attributed the increase to greater laxity in licensing laws and granting of licences, an increase in disposable income, lack of enforcement of existing restrictions and laws, and significant expenditure and marketing by the drinks industry, particularly to young people.
"We consume vast quantities of alcohol, above and beyond the normal for Europe and even the UK. In 2001, we drank 14.4 litres of pure alcohol per head of adult population, the second highest in the 25 states of Europe," he said.
The equivalent in the UK was 8.5 litres. In Ireland in 2003 there was a slight decline to 13.5 litres, he added.
Dr Farren said there were very limited options for treatment of alcoholism, yet treatment had proven to be successful.
Approximately 6.5 per cent of admissions to psychiatric hospitals in 2003 were for alcohol problems. "The figure of 200,000 alcoholics is reasonable but the number of treatment places is minuscule relative to that," he said.
There did not seem to be political will to tackle the issue, but there was also no public will, Dr Farren said.
In 2002, the nation spent €6 billion on alcohol - €1,900 per head of adult population per annum.
Alcohol-related costs ran to €2.65 billion for 2003; including loss of earnings due to alcohol, alcohol related crime and violence, road deaths and morbidity due to alcohol as well as direct treatment costs, he said.
Fr Neal Carlin, director of White Oaks rehabilitation centre in Co Donegal, called for a liaison officer or ombudsman appointed by the Government to visit each of the residential treatment centres and offer financial support for new initiatives.