Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the presentations. Many of the questions I intended to ask have been asked already. Deputy Alan Farrell mentioned gardaí confiscating drink in his area. The same happens in my home town, Bray. Approximately 15 years ago, we brought in by-laws to ban the consumption of alcohol in open places, which made a huge difference. Gardaí enforced the laws. The set up of local authorities and joint policing committees has really worked. Professor Barry referred to controlling the licences for off-licences. Deputy Seán Kenny said we celebrate this year the tenth anniversary of the smoking ban in pubs. When that came in, it was devastating for many pubs, particularly in rural areas. Where they lost business, off-licences benefitted as people began to drink more at home. That is the problem. The Department of Health is examining alcohol and minimum pricing, which is right. Where off-licences are very careful now and look for proof of identity, people can go to the local shop and buy a slab of beer for half the price, which is wrong. Minimum pricing should therefore be introduced.

There is a proposal in the context of planning regulations whereby fast food outlets will not be permitted within a certain distance of schools. The same should be done with off-licences, which must be controlled. The joint committee has just completed hearings on domestic and sexual violence and heard that there was a connection between alcohol and those issues. That has been on the increase. Before Ms Costello gave the figures, I did not know that our consumption of alcohol had doubled since the 1960s. That is shocking.