Perhaps Mr Martin should rethink a blanket ban on alcohol advertising in the light of Eurostat's findings, writes Eithne Donnellan.
The finding in yet another report that the Irish are drinking way more than their European neighbours only serves to confirm what we already knew.
A raft of reports in recent years has pointed to our increased alcohol consumption and the surge in the rate of binge-drinking among younger age groups.
The interim report of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, published in 2002, noted that alcohol consumption per capita in Ireland had risen by a staggering 41 per cent between 1989 and 1999.
And the most recent National Health & Lifestyle Survey, published last April, found the number of adults drinking more than six drinks in an average session, which is classified as binge-drinking, was also on the way up. Among men it has increased from 35 to 41 per cent and among women from 12 to 16 per cent.
Other studies have shown alcohol's effect on hospital accident and emergency departments. In a pilot study conducted by Dublin's Mater Hospital, one in four attendances at its A&E department were found to be alcohol-related, putting an intolerable burden on an already pressurised sector.
Given what has been well known for some time, one may ask what, if anything, is being done to curb drinking rates.
The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has been working hard to curb smoking, which according to yesterday's Eurostat report accounts for half a million deaths across the EU every year. But when is he going to focus on drinking?
He has acknowledged several times that alcohol consumption is increasing at an alarming rate. Mr Martin says he is intent on curbing alcohol advertising, but it appears he will stop short of placing a blanket ban on TV advertising before 9 p.m., when young people are more likely to be watching.
The Taoiseach has stated this might be the best approach, but sources say it is now likely that the audience of particular programmes will be profiled instead; and if more than a third of the audience is under 18, alcohol advertising could be prohibited.
The Minister has been accused by the president of the Irish Medical Organisation, Dr Joe Barry, of bowing to the powerful drinks industry. He favours a blanket ban.
Perhaps the Minister should rethink a blanket ban in the light of Eurostat's findings that countries with the lowest drinking levels tended to have more restrictions on alcohol advertising.
Certainly the drinks industry cannot be trusted any longer to adhere to voluntary codes. One only has to look at the Guinness advert, which features a young man running across the country and jumping off cliffs before swimming to New York to make up with his brother. Yet alcohol adverts, according to industry codes, are not supposed to associate drinking with any activity in relation to water or heights, or portray drink as a means of solving personal conflicts.