Responding to the Health Minister’s statement on the Assembly Government’s alcohol pricing policy, Shadow Minister for Health Andrew RT Davies AM commented:
“We all realise that alcohol abuse issues affect people across Wales on a very worrying scale and are indicative of the nation’s drinking culture.
“We must recognise the impact of alcohol abuse on other services, as the affects are wide reaching and cut across a number of sectors.
“While I acknowledge the Assembly is limited to what it can do in Wales with regards to pricing, that must not stop us from addressing the matter.
“The Minister has agreed that she will investigate the possibility of setting up a scheme to recover costs from people who cause problems through alcohol abuse and I would urge her to look at this as a matter of urgency to minimise the impact on services that have been affected by such incidents.
“It is also incumbent on the Minister to address alcohol advertising as the glamorisation of alcohol counters the messages we are sending out about drinking responsibly.
“More work is needed to emphasise the need for social responsibility when it comes to drinking alcohol and the Minister must engage with her colleagues around the UK to ensure valuable resources are used effectively on tackling the drinking culture and abuse that exists.”
