John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

I broadly welcome the objectives of the Bill in seeking to tackle the growing problem of excessive alcohol consumption. Excessive alcohol consumption and binge drinking by young people place a huge strain on public health resources and exacerbate the problems of anti-social behaviour and criminal activity. The Bill does not tackle the cultural problem that Ireland has with alcohol consumption. If we were serious about curbing excessive consumption, we would be discussing the banning of all relevant advertising, especially advertisements associated with sports such as Gaelic games, rugby, horse racing and many others which facilitate alcohol advertisements. This advertising plays a critical role in the glamorisation of alcohol. If we were serious about curbing excessive consumption, we would also deal decisively with the below cost selling of alcohol, especially the campaigns to promote the sale of spirits. We would consider a prohibition of the use of alcohol purchases as a means of increasing bonus or loyalty points, a significant issue when one examines the growth of under-cost selling by supermarkets. I have a vested interest in this issue as I work in the retail trade. I know the difficulties in the promotion by all retail chains of the sale of alcohol.

If we were serious about curbing excessive consumption, we would discuss the need for health warnings on all alcohol containers. Deputy Stanton referred to the Office of Tobacco Control. There should be a corresponding body to deal with the problem of excessive alcohol consumption. Measures restricting the sale of cigarettes and health warnings on packets have proved very effective. If we were serious about curbing excessive consumption, we would also consider the feasibility of providing for traceability to the retail outlet of all alcohol containers sold, which would be possible with the available technology. It would be feasible to use bar codes and so on for this purpose.

We are not considering such measures because the Government is not interested in taking decisive action on this important issue. Within the very limited terms of the Bill some of the proposals are disproportionate and unworkable. The Bill does not address the issue of mandatory identification cards for persons under the age of 21 years. The Garda has invested heavily in state-of-the-art forgery proof identification cards, but there has been a very low take up because it is not mandatory to have such a card.

Section 8 of the Bill states mixed trading retailers will have to construct a separate area for the display and sale of alcohol. Small shops that cannot make such a structural alteration will have to place all alcohol behind the counter. Retailers will face serious problems in complying with this provision. Prohibitive costs will be incurred in building a separate area and the erection of new shelving. There will also be problems with planning and health and safety issues. All this assumes a retailer will have sufficient space available for the construction of such an area, but many retailers do not. Such an area will have to be separately manned, increasing staffing levels, which may outweigh the issue of viability for many small independent retailers.

With regard to the sale of wine, 12 bottles of wine represents the sale of one bottle of Powers whiskey, a ratio of 12 to one. This has changed considerably in recent years. Consumption of wine is not common among young people. I operate an off-licence and know only too well that there is no excessive alcohol abuse in the consumption of wine. This happens at a different level with the abuse of spirits, or at least the level of abuse would be considerably smaller in the case of wine consumption. If the proposal allows for an open retail outlet, prohibiting the sale of wine behind a counter is a draconian measure.

The consequence of these provisions will be that family-owned village mixed-trading retail premises, including shops in small towns, will be forced out of business because only the largest retail chains will be able to afford to meet the new requirements for selling alcohol. I am concerned about the Government's policies for rural Ireland. It has launched a process of unpicking the fabric of rural and coastal communities stitch by stitch, post office by post office, house by house, through the serial introduction of regulations and restrictions that impact most heavily on such communities. In this case the regulation will affect family-owned village mixed-trading retail premises which are the backbone of small town and villages. Sadly, the Government appears to be more interested in ending rural heritage and traditions than in striving to keep them alive. I will maintain pressure on it to have our rich rural heritage recognised and protected by legislation, rather than threatened by it.

The Bill completely ignores the Border factor. In Border regions persons under the age of 21 years can freely travel to off-licences and retail outlets in Northern Ireland to purchase alcohol. Such a scenario will completely dilute the objectives of the Bill in such regions. While the overall objectives of the Bill are to be welcomed, we cannot have a situation where persons under the age of 21 years will be prohibited from purchasing alcohol in retail and off-licence premises in this jurisdiction, while they can travel a few short miles across the Border and freely purchase alcohol in similar outlets. They will claim they are only doing what the Tánaiste, Deputy Coughlan, recently advised shoppers to do if they wished to avoid being ripped off by the major retail food chains. The Government advises shoppers that if they wish to avoid being ripped off by major retail or food chains, to shop in the North. That was the Tánaiste's argument on the stacked up costs to retailers, as well as taxation. All she could indicate on local radio was that we should shop in the North. It is an indictment of the inability of this Government to deal with the stacked up costs of doing business in this country. It is a facade of protectionism.

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