More than two-fifths of 25-year-old Irish men and a third of women are drinking at levels the World Health Organization classifies as "hazardous”.

That’s according to a new CSO report on the wellbeing of young adults.

CEO of Alcohol Action Ireland Doctor Sheila Gilheany told Newstalk Breakfast that hazardous drinking levels are defined by how much and how often a person drinks, as well as the impact it has on them.

“The definition of hazardous levels arises from a questionnaire that is administered; it’s called the Audit C questionnaire,” she said.

“Basically, it depends on the answers that you give to a series of questions.

“There’s things like, ‘How often do you drink? How much do you drink on a particular occasion?’ And then the impacts that you might experience from such drinking.

“The questions are asked, there’s a score that comes from it and when you reach a certain level, then that’s described as hazardous drinking.”

Two glasses clinking, one wine and one water because the person is sober. Image: f:nalinframe / Alamy Stock Photo

According to Dr Gilheany, the results of this report are unsurprising, as they align with previous surveys carried out in Ireland.

She said alcohol is available in the country at “pretty cheap prices”, which contributes to the issue.

“There was a survey done by the OECD actually, a few years ago, that found that alcohol in Ireland was much, much more affordable in Ireland compared with other OECD countries,” she said.

“It’s not just the price of alcohol, it’s actually, you know, what is your disposable income there?”

Dr Gilheany called on the Government to strongly enforce the Public Health Alcohol Act of 2018, which aims to reduce alcohol consumption through a range of pricing and advertising restrictions.

The act was signed into law in October 2018 but Dr Gilheany said when it comes to advertising restrictions, “We still haven’t seen that measure come into play yet”.

Main image: Young people drinking.