Our goals 2025-2029

Goal 3: Protection of all our children from alcohol harms

Children have a right to a childhood free from alcohol harm. Currently, children in Ireland are damaged by alcohol in many ways including:

  • Foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)
  • Parental problem alcohol use leading to impact on family relationships and children’s development
  • Living in an alcohol marketing saturated environment, leading to tolerance and acceptance of alcohol harm
  • Alcohol consumption and intoxication in childhood

All of these can have lifelong implications for health, wellbeing, premature death and opportunities in life. Coupled with this, there is a huge negative impact on the economy, the costs of which mean less funding available to enhance childhood essential services such as childcare, health, education and facilities for sports and the arts.

FASD

Our activities will include:

  • Advocate for a fully funded strategy which addresses the issues across, diagnosis, support for parents/carers, education, social services, justice systems
  • Bring the issues to the multiple government departments and services which are impacted by FASD

Parental problem alcohol use (PPAU)

Our activities will include:

  • Highlight need for trauma informed services and early intervention strategies such as Operation Encompass – a data sharing protocol between police and schools.
  • Recognition of the role of PPAU as a gateway to multiple other ACEs including domestic violence, sexual abuse, parental mental health difficulties, loss of a parent through death, imprisonment
  • Advocate for services for adults who have been impacted growing up with alcohol harm in the home.
  • Advocate for training for all professionals including GPs, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health workers to recognise this issue and its impacts across the lifespan.
  • Advocate for training in third level teacher training modules on PPAU
  • Working with academics, professional bodies and other advocacy groups to develop the evidence base in this area and ensuring that the voices of lived experience are included in advocacy.

Alcohol marketing

Our activities will include:

  • Advocate for a complete ban on all forms of alcohol marketing
  • Advocate for full implementation and evaluation of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act
  • Advocate for the closure of loopholes regarding zero alcohol product marketing using identical branding
  • Advocate for a complete ban on alcohol sports sponsorship

See our campaigns to achieve this goal

We need your help!

If you would like to help our campaign to protect all our children from alcohol harms, please fill in the form below and separate, personalised emails will be sent to each of your local TDs.

 

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