LETTERKENNY based charity, The Alcohol Forum, has said more family supports will be needed to deal with addiction issues as we come out of lockdown.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Paula Leonard, National Community Action on Alcohol Programme Lead, outlined the work they have been doing over the last few months.
“37 per cent of families with dependent children have said they increased their alcohol consumption during lockdown and nine per cent said they have significantly increased. That is a particular area for concern for us. It throws up questions about children’s exposure to alcohol in the home. I think the increase is because parents are trying to juggle everything, whether that be job losses, working from home and home schooling all at the one time.
“Addiction services are predicting that there will be a need for more family supports. Treatment services have also said things have picked up in the last two weeks.”
As restrictions continue to ease people who have been struggling with alcohol consumption at home are now starting to reach out for help. The Alcohol Forum has been providing support for family members who live with someone struggling with addiction through their Five Step Family support programme.
“Living with someone, a spouse or a family member, dealing with addiction during lockdown was really difficult,” said Ms Leonard.
Ms Leonard said they have been extremely busy with this service as well as their youth work programme, Reach, which supports young people. The Alcohol Forum, together with The Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network (ICAAN), is also currently leading a national campaign, “Deliver change on drink deliveries”, which is calling for the closure of legal loopholes relating to alcohol delivery services and to bring forward legislation allowing for greater clarity on point of sale, age verification and legal hours.
The former Minister for Health, Simon Harris had agreed to meet the charity about the campaign and a Red C poll has indicated a high level of support among the public for the changes they are proposing.
“Legislation has failed to keep pace with changes in how alcohol is sold and consumed. Over the past two decades Ireland has experienced a significant shift towards home drinking and the emergence of new retail practices including ‘dial-a-drink’ services.”
Twenty-four hour drink delivery services are popping up all over Dublin at the moment and Ms Leonard said it is only a matter of time before services arrive in Donegal. While this is a pre-Covid 19 issue online sales of alcohol during the pandemic have increased by 15 per cent, a trend that is set to continue.
The ‘Deliver Change on Drink Deliveries’ campaign aims to highlight the need to align regulations that apply to the online sale of alcohol with those that apply to in-store purchases such as limits of purchase hours and requirement for age verification.
Ms Leonard said it is important to note that they are not anti-business but do want to tidy up the legislation as liquor licensing law is a technical and expansive area of law, with statutes dating back to 1833.
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