Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Bill, which Fine Gael will support. The Minister indicated he expected the Bill to pass all Stages and be enacted before the summer recess but there could be a difficulty with that. On a number of occasions on the Order of Business I asked the Taoiseach and the Chief Whip about the arrangements for this. I would be anxious for every Member to have an opportunity to speak on this debate. It is not clear what function the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights might have on this. It was reported that Committee Stage may be held in a plenary session. Only two more weeks remain in this session.

There used to be a long-standing protocol that there would be a considerable lapse of time between the completion of Second Stage and the introduction of Committee Stage to allow for amendments to be prepared and a period of reflection between the two Stages. I would be surprised if that long-standing tradition is not upheld. If the Minister or the Chief Whip could tell us the proposals we could discuss it. I hope the Minister can provide us with an idea of his proposals at the completion of Second Stage.

We are into the last few weeks of the session and guillotining legislation without adequate debate means that the House may have to revisit it. Earlier this year a special measure on bail was undertaken. We were required to revisit it because we did not have sufficient time.

There is broad consensus that legislation to curb intoxicating liquor consumption is long overdue. There is a compelling case in the context of public health and public safety to limit the widespread availability of alcohol. This is not an argument in favour of a nanny State, it is an acknowledgement that the Government must protect the common good of the citizens by legislating in a responsible way. Since the beginning of this decade, the laissez-faire approach adopted by Fianna Fáil, with undoubted support from the Progressive Democrats, has been a failure when viewed through the prism of public health and public disorder.

The hands-off approach of Government is evidenced by a 29% increase in theatre licences in the past five years. There were 59 in 2002, 76 in 2007 and the Minister states that there were 80 in 2008, with a further 20 pending. In view of this the traditional character of what constitutes a theatre has changed significantly over the years. I was surprised to hear a High Court judge accept that a licensed premises where there is a disc jockey with access to a record player or a CD unit that is turned on can be regarded as a theatre for the purposes of the Act.

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