More than half of all nights out by Irish men turn into binge drinking sessions, according to new research published today.
This is by far the highest proportion compared with six other European countries.
The report also shows that Irish drinkers consume more than 12 litres of pure alcohol per annum, far higher than the other countries surveyed.
Binge drinking in the report is equated with at least one bottle of wine, four pints of beer or seven shots of spirits during one drinking occasion.
The report, Irish Drinking Culture of 2002: Drinking and Related Harm, A European Comparative Perspectivewas complied by Dr Mats Ramstedt at the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University.
Lansdowne Marketing carried out the research for Ireland before it was sent to Dr Ramstedt for comparison with the other States.
England shares with Ireland an exceptional high proportion of nights out leading to binge drinking at 40 per cent. The next nearest country is France on 9 per cent.
Announcing the findings in Dublin this morning the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, said: "The clear message from this research is that we must change our drinking patterns - we need to cut down and slow our drinking."
Ireland has a relatively high level of abstention from alcohol with 23 per cent of Irish people saying they have consumed no alcohol over the last 12 months.
Despite this abstention rate, average total alcohol consumption per respondent in the State was 9.3 litres - leading to the conclusion that consumption per drinker was 12.1 litres.
Almost half (48 per cent) of all Irish men and 16 per cent of women said they usually binge drank at least once a week.
This compares with 38 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in England, which was the second highest country.
The study also showed that there were more problems per drinker in Ireland - such as accidents, falls, unprotected sex and public order offences - than in any of the countries surveyed.
Mr Martin said: "It goes without saying that this type of harm has enormous impact, both in personal terms and in the burden it places on our acute services and justice systems."
More than 1,000 adults were questioned on their drinking habits by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of the health department's Health Promotion Unit. The research was conducted in September 2002.
