Alcohol Action Ireland press release, Wednesday 20 August 2025
With US tariffs sending shockwaves through the Irish economy and ahead of Budget 2026, which Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers said will be based on decisions that must be “sustainable with global uncertainty”, Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, has published its latest report on the impact that alcohol has on the Irish economy and urges the government to implement policies that will reduce this heavy burden, thereby making the Irish economy more robust and competitive.
Alcohol’s impact on public health and the health service, on crime and the criminal justice system, and on road traffic collisions is well documented. However, another area which is directly and indirectly affected by alcohol, but which has received far too little attention, is the workplace. AAI’s latest report, titled Alcohol’s Cost to the Workplace, uses national and international evidence to shine a light on the impact of alcohol in the workplace in Ireland, the scale of its impact on workers, on employers, and on the economy.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “Alcohol is by far the most used psychoactive substance in the workforce, with people having harmful consumption patterns that increase their risk of social, legal, medical, occupational, domestic and economic problems. More than half of Irish drinkers are classified as hazardous drinkers. Within that cohort of hazardous drinkers, there are 578,000 people with an alcohol use disorder (AUD), of which 90,000 are at a severe level.
“Alcohol poses a significant risk to workers, to businesses, to productivity and to the economy. Workers under the influence of alcohol can be a danger to themselves and to others, especially in jobs which involve a high risk of injury. Working under the influence of alcohol, or with a hangover, can increase the risk of accidents, injuries and absenteeism, along with tardiness at work and/or leaving work early, resulting in loss of productivity. It can also lead to the development of inappropriate behaviour at work, poor relations with colleagues, and low company morale.
“The impact of alcohol on the workplace is multifaceted. It affects the individual in terms of mortality and morbidity, productivity, presenteeism, and absenteeism. It affects colleagues in terms of workload, and it affects employers in terms of businesses losses and competitiveness. However, the workplace also represents a useful access point for health promotion, including for addressing alcohol-related harm. Implementing workplace interventions to reduce hazardous drinking levels can have a positive economic impact by reducing absenteeism, presenteeism, accidents and injuries.”
Some of the main findings contained in the report include:
- Employers and businesses can sometimes be a major contributor themselves to alcohol use amongst workforces. However, there is a role for employers and the trade union movement to reduce this by ensuring positive work conditions including fair treatment, recognition, meaningful work, skill variety, autonomy, acquisition and use of skills, fair rewards, promotion opportunities, friendship formation, and social support from co-workers and supervisors.
- Heavy drinking increases the risk of absenteeism, with high-risk drinkers 22 times more likely to be absent from work due to their alcohol use compared with lower-risk drinkers.
- Presenteeism – which is defined as being physically present at work but, due to a physical or emotional issue, being distracted to the point of reduced productivity – is more important for lost productivity than is absenteeism, with presenteeism accounting for 77% of total lost productivity in the workplace, while absenteeism is responsible for 23%.
- It is estimated that heavy drinking increases the risk of unemployment by as much as about five-fold compared with light drinking.
Dr Gilheany continued: “Alcohol harm is estimated to cost the Irish exchequer about 2.5% of GDP every year – that’s €14 billion for 2024 – in health, justice and lost productivity. Of this, the lion’s share – 61% or about €8.5 billion – is due to lost productivity. Given alcohol’s huge drain on the Irish economy, much more could be done by government to address these issues.
“It is clear that improved data collection and monitoring is necessary in relation to alcohol and the workplace, and alcohol’s involvement in workplace accidents. To this end, the government needs to introduce the relevant regulations regarding alcohol under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act (2005), which ensures that, when necessary, there is appropriate testing for alcohol to ensure both safety and employee welfare, while also aiding organisational efficiency and productivity.
“Furthermore, it is important that the key stakeholders – government, employers’ representatives, and the trade union movement – work together to ensure the adoption of the progressive approaches in dealing with alcohol the workplace in a manner which supports the employee and helps the workplace.
“The most cost effective way to reduce the burden of alcohol on the economy is for government to adopt policies that help reduce population-wide alcohol consumption, using the World Health Organisation’s ‘Best Buys’ – controls on pricing, marketing and availability. This can be achieved by increases in excise duties on alcohol products, by fully implementing and enforcing the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, and by regulating the outlet density and opening hours of pubs and off-licences. If these simple measures were implemented there would no doubt be comparable improvements for workers, for employers, for society, and for the economy.”
ENDS
