Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis na toscairí as a gcur i láthair suimiúil os ár gcomhair inniu.

The pub industry is a significant element of the Irish economy, social fabric, health and the law and order system. Public policy has resulted in a proliferation of alcohol on sale at petrol stations and supermarkets over recent years which has had a negative effect on the four elements I have mentioned. More alcohol is consumed in private homes which reduces the social fabric and there is less control over the amount sold. The Government needs to discriminate between the unit sold in the pub and that which is sold in the off-licence. It needs to use taxation and excise policy to promote the pub sale.

Do the witnesses agree that there is an opportunity in the North of Ireland for fiscal powers to be returned to Ireland by Westminster and that this could have a great effect in equalising tax and excise levels? Would the witnesses’ organisations start to focus on that opportunity as those discussions are happening and the changes are concrete?

Mr. Cummins gave a great presentation at this committee a year and a half or two years ago in which he stated that with the level of opportunity for work that exists in the restaurant industry, there was a complete lack of proper apprenticeships for trainee chefs. Could he update us on any developments?

Although it is not the only organisation that is involved with this, I would like to see his organisation do more about under-age drinking. There was a project in Belfast a number of years ago in which when a person bought a bottle or a can in an off-licence, the off-licence stamped its name and the time and date of purchase on the item and CCTV camera recorded the actual purchase. When a police officer found a person with a can of beer, they could then identify that it was sold at that time in a certain off-licence and go back to the CCTV footage to see if it was sold to an under-age person or an adult who then passed it on. This meant that all of a sudden people were very unlikely to pass drink on to an under-age person, and a young person was less likely to be sold the item because the shop knew that there was some level of traceability. A project like that would show great faith in trying to tackle the problem, although Mr. Cummins's organisation does not have sole responsibility for that.

Could Mr. Cummins also talk us through this bizarre situation where supermarkets get VAT back from the sale of below-cost products? They take hard-earned, much-needed State revenue out of our pockets and put it back into the Tescos and so on.