Mr. Padraic White:

I reiterate that I am here to support the provisions in head 15 of the Bill and in the explanatory notes which go to the heart of our concern. We support a strengthened statutory code, a two-year trial period and objective assessment. The key requirement from our point of view is the two-year trial period for an enhanced statutory code for the supermarket sector. At the end of that two-year period the Department of Health and the Department of Justice and Equality would evaluate whether the supermarkets have been effective in implementing the code. If they deem it is unacceptable, it is up to them if they want to implement section 9 of the Bill. It is important to understand why I am here and why this structure has been created. The only reason the responsible retailing of alcohol structure, the code company and the independent chairperson were created was as an alternative to section 9.

What does section 9 state? It states that if one has a full off-licence with wines and spirits, one has to have a wall, separate turnstile or gate, and have a till and staffed checkout located in the alcohol area. The supermarkets said at the time to the then Minister, Dermot Ahern, that it would cost a fortune and that they could deliver more through a code, which would include advertising within the store and external advertising among other measures. The view is that there has been substantial delivery to the public by means of the code, a public complaints mechanism and us taking action against non-compliant members and others. It follows logically that if section 9 were implemented tomorrow or if the provisions in the heads of the Bill were changed, the RRAI would disappear overnight in effect because the rationale for its continuation would be completely gone.