The Government was accused of hypocrisy in its attitude to alcohol and the drinks industry, during a debate on the Budget. Mr Brendan McGahon (FG, Louth) said all governments were hypocritical in their stance on alcohol.

"They have failed to recognise the damage caused by the drinks industry," he said. "Drink, not drugs, presents the biggest problem.

"It is an awful illness. The youth of Ireland are swimming in a sea of drink. The social problems caused are legion."

He referred to the increase in the price of cigarettes, saying his county had benefited through jobs from the cigarette industry, "but the bell is tolling for it".

More people "die from drink-related illnesses here than from smoking-related illnesses," he claimed. "A cigarette smoker does not go home and sexually assault his child and beat his wife or leave them without food. It is tragic that all governments have failed to address this problem honestly."

He called for the curtailment of the "seductive advertising" which appears every 10 minutes on television aimed at young people. "We are told that there are teenage alcoholics. The single mother phenomenon has much to do with the drinks industry also. The number of road deaths is unacceptable. More people per head of population are killed on the roads here than in every other country in Europe." In recent years "when the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, presented good proposals to curb the problem of drink-driving we witnessed the power of the drinks lobby and backed down", he said.