Data released by Gardaí cover the period from 7am on Thursday, February 1 to 7am on Tuesday, February 6.

These figures coincide with an open letter from more than 65 health, social, and community organisations, academics, and advocates — all voicing strong opposition to proposed measures in the Sale of Alcohol bill that will dramatically increase the number of venues serving alcohol, as well as significantly extending the opening hours of pubs, bars, and nightclubs.

The open letter to the three government party leaders — Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, and Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan — is an urgent call for this government to fully assess the implications of increased alcohol availability.

CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland, Dr Sheila Gilheany said that the letter demonstrates deep disquiet in the health and social community and urges that an immediate health impact assessment (HIA) of this legislation be carried out.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has committed to engaging with "various public and voluntary bodies" and "considering their views". 

This might be useful but does not equate with quantitative data on resource implications of the Bill; in terms of Gardaí, medical, social, and transport services that will be needed to pick up the pieces after the legislation has been passed.

Road deaths 

Last year was a year of appalling tragedies on Irish roads with the loss of 184 lives. In addition, there were 1,250 serious injuries by the middle of December.

While there are proposals to address this with new speed limits, this will have little impact on intoxicated drivers. A Norwegian report published in Health Economics (2022), adds to mounting evidence that when opening hours are extended in areas where there is limited public transport, more drink driving incidents will occur. Specifically, a one-hour extension in trading hours was associated with up to 30% more collisions in rural areas.

The government’s Sale of Alcohol Bill proposes to increase trading hours of all bars and restaurants from 11.30pm to 12.30am and facilitate late-night opening of bars to 2.30am.

The facts speak for themselves. The latest figures augment data released by the Garda National Roads Policing Bureau early in January reporting that one person every hour was on average, arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or both, on the run up to and during the Christmas period with 75% of cases featuring alcohol.

Over a third (37%) of driver fatalities in Ireland have a positive toxicology for alcohol and almost three quarters (72%) of these fatalities occur on rural roads.

There is cross government concern about the increase in road deaths in Ireland in the past year. The Taoiseach recently convened a meeting of the Ministerial Road Safety Committee. It was attended by key ministers, CEO of the Road Safety Authority, Liz O’Donnell; Assistant Commissioner of Garda Roads Policing, Paula Hilman; key civil servants and Susan Gray; founder of the PARC road safety group.

Alcohol Action Ireland claims that entirely absent from the discussion was the consideration of the likely impact of the Sale of Alcohol Bill on road safety. Data compiled by the PARC road safety group indicates Garda roads policing numbers continued to fall during 2023, with 47 fewer officers than at the beginning of the year.

All of this points to a perfect storm that will lead to more road deaths — particularly on rural roads with an absence of both public transport and a dearth of policing.

Added to this, proposals to increase the availability of alcohol through longer licensing hours and more venues for the sale of alcohol have the potential to negate all the really positive progress made by the Department of Health in recent years towards altering the culture around alcohol in Ireland.

Cost-benefit analysis 

In a cost-benefit analysis of the Sale of Alcohol Bill published in 2022, international alcohol expert Prof Tom Babor warned that the Bill will increase risks of alcohol-related disease, injuries, crime, public disorder and domestic violence.

Chair of Alcohol Action Ireland, Professor Frank Murray, agrees.

"We should bear in mind the fact that other jurisdictions are rowing back on the liberalisation of night-time economies. For example, Amsterdam is placing further restrictions on alcohol consumption and earlier closure for bars.

"Some districts in Amsterdam had found a 34% increase in ambulance attendances for alcohol-related injury where there had been a one-hour increase in opening hours of alcohol outlets, compared with other areas in the city."

Alcohol causes 1,500 deaths a year in Ireland. About 15% of the population have an alcohol use disorder (AUD) — a medical condition characterised by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse consequences in social, occupational and health terms.

It is hard to fathom government strategy. Amid increased warnings about violence and lawlessness on city streets, and alarming increases in road deaths; the Government plans to increase opportunities for alcohol use with the Sale of Alcohol Bill this year.

The Sale of Alcohol Bill is a mistake. It is an effort to appease the alcohol industry and wave the magic wand of further economic growth. A health impact assessment is needed and the industry should pay for the inevitable increased costs of societal and health harms.

Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork