Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I thank the Acting Chairman and Deputy Ciarán Lynch. I did not appreciate that the previous business would be dealt with so quickly.

I argued last night for the few meaningful sections of this Bill to be incorporated into the promised sale of alcohol Bill. That would represent a more considered approach to alcohol abuse in our society and its implications for public health and safety. This Bill is a rushed effort, already much altered by the Minister. His presentation last night dealt at length with the harmful effects of alcohol abuse on society. However, the Bill is a narrow, modest measure which does not respond to most of issues raised by the Minister himself. I cannot recall the Government producing a single public health measure since 1997 to combat the harmful effects of alcohol abuse.

The Bill avoids addressing most of the Minister's own arguments. Its focus is on teenage drunkenness and public disorder, and there is no doubt that the availability of cheaper alcohol in unregulated retail outlets exacerbates this endemic cultural malaise. However, after this Bill is enacted, it will still be possible to purchase alcohol at bargain basement prices in supermarkets. Alcohol sales are blatantly used as loss leaders in supermarkets. The Government seemed only too content until now to tolerate high prices for food and other essentials and knockdown prices for various alcohol products. Nothing in the Bill will change this practice of high prices for food and low prices for alcohol.

The Minister announced last night that he will not proceed with the proposal to cease the operation of early houses and that there will no longer be a requirement for wine to be separated from other products. Moreover, in the matter of the separation of alcohol from other products, he announced that his plans may now be met by a voluntary code to be devised by retailers. We must probe this in considerable detail on Committee Stage. However, it must be asked how it diminishes public disorder and enhances public safety to require all nightclubs to disgorge their clientele onto the streets at the same time. I do not much care whether the Minister cuts back the hours of operation of such establishments, but the proposal in this Bill will merely invite agitation and irritation and strain public transport and other services.

There are important issues in the report of the alcohol advisory group which are not dealt with in this Bill. Instead of rushing at half cock to legislate, the Minister should be taking those issues on board and incorporating them into a considered sale of alcohol Bill. Dr. Gordon Holmes says in the preface to this report: "A more consistent and co-ordinated approach to alcohol-related problems is required across the Government system." This Bill only adds to the existing half thought-out and inconsistent approach. The Minister has already dropped some of the ill-considered sections but is pressing ahead with others which will require detailed scrutiny on Committee Stage.

While the Minister insists on disgorging the clientele of pubs and nightclubs onto the streets at a uniform time, with the inevitable congregation of patrons at fast food facilities, this Bill will have the opposite effect to that which he desires. What is needed is a considered sale of alcohol Bill with public health and safety at its core and where proper thought is given to issues such as below cost selling, advertising, education, regulation of retail outlets and other pertinent issues raised by the Dr. Gordon Holmes committee. This Bill falls a long way short.

It is essential that sufficient time be afforded on Committee Stage to debate this legislation. I drew the Taoiseach's attention this morning to the unprecedented experience of receiving a schedule of business for this week which indicates that Report Stage of the Bill is listed for next week. I am only the second speaker on Second Stage. Committee Stage has not even been scheduled. How then can we jump to Report Stage next week? That is no way to process legislation in this House. There is no point in the Government trying to bludgeon us into submission because they have surmised that we will be reluctant to deal with the issue of teenage drunkenness and public disorder. We are not at all reluctant to deal with it. On the contrary, we want to deal with it comprehensively and safely.

The Minister has promised a sale of alcohol Bill. It would have been much better for him to have taken a considered approach rather than going off at half cock. The Minister admitted in a radio interview this morning that he is puzzled as to why proposals on early houses were included in this Bill. One does not see many youths going on the rampage because they have been served alcohol in early houses. The Minister has done a deal with retail outlets whereby they will introduce their own code of conduct. He no longer wants to separate wine so that those of us, unlike the Minister, with a predilection in that area can now fondle the bottle to our heart's content. We had the revelation from the Minister last night that he may not be entirely averse to that product, which is not in keeping with the Calvinist image he has portrayed in the House for the past 20 years.

I am glad to hear he is in touch with the real world. As such, he will know that forcing people out of nightclubs and onto the street at the same time, when their drinks are half drunk, is only inviting trouble. There must be a drinking-up time facility. I am aware of at least one such place where gardaí go in on the hour to round up people onto the streets. Without allowing for drinking-up time, one invites irritation and difficulty. Throughout the State, such difficulty as takes place usually occurs adjacent to fast food facilities where people congregate at the same late hour.

I do not dispute that the Minister's objective is worthy in seeking to contain public disorder and to address the endemic abuse of alcohol by young people. However, the measures must be considered. There is a great deal more in the Dr. Gordon Holmes report than is incorporated into this slight Bill. It is becoming more slight every day — if the Minister receives any more representations, there will be nothing left in it. It would be far better to incorporate these provisions into the promised sale of alcohol Bill. We must give some considered thought to the damage being done to public health by the abuse of alcohol and we must come forward with some considered measures.

We will require time on Committee Stage to deal with the various issues we wish to raise in the context of the Bill. It is simply unacceptable that there should be a departure in the case of this legislation from the protocol that Members should have reasonable time to prepare amendments, after the completion of Second Stage, and to thrash them out on Committee Stage before moving on to Report and Final Stages. Let us extend the sitting time of the House or find some other means of ensuring the time is available. I do not mind what means the Minister prefers to accommodate that. However, I object to being railroaded into agreeing to legislation I consider defective and which the Minister himself has effectively admitted is defective in that he has already excised significant elements of it. We must have time to tease it out and to examine other aspects of this issue.

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