Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, and Deputy Kelly on introducing the Bill in front of us. I believe 64 new micro-breweries have been set up in the country in recent years which have created almost 500 jobs. That is a massive plus. However, I do have a concern about the sale of alcohol and I must disagree with my colleague here. I believe the opening hours, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., are a good start. The last thing I want to do is to encourage people to go to these breweries just to buy drink and take drink home.

Tours of these facilities is a good idea. I have been regularly lobbied in County Louth because a few of the new breweries are located there. I visited one or two of them myself and they have fantastic set ups. Instead of changing everything in one go, I believe we should wait and see what happens over the next couple of years. I would be delighted if jobs were created and if it encourages tourism in different areas, that would be a major plus. As a non-drinker, a pioneer, I was very impressed with the set-up in these breweries. I know that Deputy Wallace has much more experience than I do in going to Italy and having a look at such places. Italy might have a 20-year head start on us, but we should be taking our time with this anyway. It is something that could really kick off in this country. I spoke last week in the debate on the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, and there was debate on Irish whiskeys and different types of labels. I would hate to see a stigma attached to this. Ireland is known as a country that manufactures good alcoholic products. I believe we have an opportunity of increasing tourism with these micro-breweries but we should take one step at a time. Let us work with the Minister. It could be something good and could lead to employment opportunities. It might also help to educate young people about what actually goes into their drinks.

Tours would be a massive plus, especially for schools. Many people do not know what actually goes into the manufacturing of alcohol or about all the different contributors, such as local farmers, who get involved in the process. A tour would be a fantastic way to get young people to understand the manufacturing process of the drinks.

We are talking about increasing the opening hours from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. I believe that would give the wrong impression.