Mr. Padraig Cribben:

I will deal with two or three issues that have been raised, the first of which relates to structural separation. In terms of compliance, figures were quoted in respect of the Responsible Retailing of Alcohol in Ireland code. Reference was made to figures of 83% and 74%. The question is: with what were they compliant? Has anyone actually read the RRAI's voluntary code on segregation? It states alcohol should be placed at the back of a store and that customers should not have to pass alcohol products to get to others. However, there are four words in a two or three page code which render it absolutely meaningless. They are "as far as possible". Let us consider a store in which there is refrigeration equipment along the side. The store owner can have rashers and sausages in one fridge and alcohol in another beside it. It is possible for a shopper to place his or her trolley in one place, put his or her left hand in one fridge and take out sausages and put his or her right hand in in the other and take out beer. That is in compliance with the code which is rubbish and meaningless because of the four words "as far as possible".