The extent of binge drinking among young people in Ireland was spelt out at a conference in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, yesterday.
Addressing the "Alcohol and the Family - Challenging the Impacts" conference organised by the North Western Health Board, Dr Ann Hope, national alcohol policy adviser to the Department of Health and Children, said the economic cost of "alcohol harm" was now €2.3 billion annually, while there were physical, emotional and social costs to society.
Alcohol consumption levels per capita had increased by 49 per cent since 1989 at a time when most EU countries showed a decrease, she said.
A third of 16-year-olds were regular binge-drinkers while 17 per cent of boys aged nine-11 were "current drinkers". Dr Hope said more than half of 18- 24-year-olds and nearly half of 25-34-year-olds binge drink.
She said one in four cases attending hospital accident and emergency departments was alcohol-related, while alcohol was associated with 30 per cent of road accidents and 40 per cent of fatal accidents. It was also a factor in one in three marital breakdowns and public order offences and assaults had more than doubled since 1996.
Mr Denis Bradley of the Northlands Alcohol Treatment Centre in Derry advocated a surcharge on drink companies to be used to fund treatment facilities in every county and which would link alcohol consumption to levels of damage. "This would force the drinks industry to accept its responsibilities," he said.