Noel O'Flynn (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I also welcome the Minister's decision to heed Members and representatives of industry on the cordoning off of areas for the sale of alcohol in supermarkets. I note that supermarkets have already begun to move all alcohol into one area rather than placing such products at points of sale where they are an attractive option. I hope the supermarkets will take the Minister's advice and agree to introduce a code of practice on below cost selling and address the many other issues in the area of alcohol availability and price which are causing problems for us. It is outrageous, for example, that beer can be purchased more cheaply than water. I hope the supermarkets will be practical and act responsibly in these matters.

Public disorder is a source of serious concern to me and other Members. The number of my constituents with these concerns has increased substantially since I was first elected to Dáil Éireann. The current position is remarkably different from that which pertained when I was first elected to Cork City Council. It was during my time on the council that I first became aware of the need for tougher penalties to curb the rise in binge drinking, public disorder and drinking in public places.

In 1998, I and a number of colleagues pioneered secondary legislation to prohibit alcohol consumption in public streets and places in Cork. I pay tribute to the former long-standing Senator, Denis Cregan, who is recovering from an operation. Members send their best wishes to Mr. Cregan who was one of the members of a sub-committee established to address this issue as a result of a motion I tabled in the council. The idea originated with the late Mr. Jim Sweeney and Mr. Noel Dalton, one of my advisers, who is also deceased. Superintendent Martin Shanahan and Brian Bermingham, the current Lord Mayor of Cork, were also on the committee.

We travelled the streets of Cork until 4 a.m. to observe what unfolded late at night. It was appalling to see so many people drinking and falling all over the place with bottles in their hands. Some of them started fights or got into other kinds of trouble and were arrested. I am pleased we introduced the prohibition which has worked in most places. All the other local authorities followed suit and in fact one or two of them even beat us to the punch because the wheels of bureaucracy in Cork City Council did not move as fast as elsewhere. Nevertheless, we were first to have the idea. I ask that other local authorities introduce similar secondary legislation to complement the primary legislation being introduced.

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