Mr. Padraig Cribben:

Two answers could be given to that. I would like to be as clear as possible in the answers that I give. If one looks at where it stands today compared to where it was in 2007, 2008 or 2009, it is down by about a third. Was 2016 better than 2015? Yes, by a margin of about 1% or 2%. I think it is fair to say that I am talking globally. There has not been an even spread across the country or even within towns. In 2015 and 2016, we saw a marginal increase in business in the on-trade but that is coming from a situation where business had dropped by a third between 2007 and 2014. Again, in looking at this legislation, we have not mentioned the effect on trade because we have tried to stick to the facts and figures contained in this report. To answer the Deputy's question, it is down by about a third and beginning to show a bit of an upward curve.