As reported in the Irish Examiner, the chair of the Road Safety Authority board, Liz O’Donnell, has written to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, and junior minister Jack Chambers urging them to stop progressing the legislation on late-night openings. Read the full letter and our statement on the matter below.
Alcohol Action Ireland CEO, Dr Sheila Gilheany said:
“We are very pleased to see this timely and much needed intervention from the Chair of the Road Safety Authority, raising very serious concerns regarding the evidence around increasing alcohol availability and increased levels of drink driving. But it’s not just driving that will be impacted by the proposed increased sale of alcohol. There will be impacts on the health of our nation overall – including mental and physical health, domestic and sexual violence and the considerable impact on children. A key recommendation of the pre-legislative process was that a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the proposals should be carried out. Recently nearly 80 health, social, community organisations and advocates called on the government to commit to this common-sense approach. But this government is not listening. An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is quite clear that he wants extended alcohol licensing hours. What is not so clear is the rationale for this and whether the government have considered the likely impacts across multiple public services. We have seen the fallout this past weekend when politicians don’t listen to people and evidence and rush things without proper deliberation. We cannot play this kind of Russian roulette with our nation’s health.”
Read our Op Ed here.
