Ms Evelyn Jones:

Yes. We have the documentary replies which state placing alcohol products beside a till is not in breach of the code because customers do not have to pass through the area in which alcohol products are located to get to food products. It is a double standard because, as Mr. Cribben said, the code states that, as far as possible, alcohol products should be located in a place through which people do not have to pass to get to food products.

On minimum unit pricing, there is a formula included in the legislation. At a figure of €1, we are looking at a price of a can of 5% beer of about €1.97, a can of 4.3% beer of about €1.50 and a bottle of vodka of about €20. Will it be legal and will it get through the European court? These are very big questions, about which I have reservations. That is the reason I am suggesting we have nothing to lose in bringing forward in tandem a ban on invoice cost selling. Let us introduce minimum pricing, but what will happen if it is not legal? What is our back-up plan? I say this because it is going to be argued that it is proportional on health grounds to impose a minimum unit price. These are my thoughts. If I am a farmer in Bulgaria, I have access to cheap land and cheap labour and can make a wine for €1.

Who is to say my bottle of wine is less healthy than a similar bottle of wine manufactured in France but which costs €5? Bulgaria is objecting to the introduction of minimum unit pricing because one cannot say that just because it can produce something inexpensively, it is less healthy. Unfortunately, my fear is that this could happen.