Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the majority of the provisions of the Bill and commend the Minister and his officials on its introduction. It is complex legislation as demonstrated by the range of measures covered by it. The main headline issues of the Bill concern the bankruptcy laws and the various provisions being introduced to strengthen family law. There was vigorous discussion in the Seanad on the bankruptcy issue and I will get to that later. The strengthening of family law, particularly the provisions for the enforcement of the various family law maintenance orders, is welcome. It would be improper for me not to acknowledge the Minister's record in this area over many years, in terms of introducing from this side of the House much of the ground-breaking legislation we have.

The range of issues dealt with in the Bill illustrate how important it is that such a Bill be introduced on an annual basis in order to ensure that our law is kept up to date in the many areas covered. While I recognise significant work has gone into this Bill, it is not good for legislation to have to introduce so many different provisions at one time and we would be better off to ensure that time is given next year to anticipate a further round of this legislation.

I would like to highlight some particular issues. The Irish Heart Foundation has welcomed the Bill. However, having engaged with us on some of the provisions covered in Part 3, it seeks greater clarity on the definition of a "volunteer" and the issues of good samaritans, volunteers and volunteer organisations. The Irish Heart Foundation is of the view that its many members, which include myself, could be included in this provision. The foundations seeks clarification on what authorisation a volunteer organisation needs and what this means for the liability of individuals who are trained as first responders by the foundation or any other organisation. It also has some recommendations to make on the definitions. Perhaps the Minister can reflect on these issues. Since the death of Cormac McAnallen, a range of organisations has become involved with defibrillators and this whole area. Many of these people are trained, but we do not know to what standards and many of them present themselves when a difficult situation arises. I suggest we should look to the advice of the Irish Heart Foundation and any other advice the Minister has received on this issue.

The foundation also seeks tighter definitions with regard to the concepts of "damage" and "gross negligence" and with regard to the responsibilities of those who transport people from the scene of an emergency to a place where they can receive medical care. I do not wish to reopen previous debates, but I suggest this will be a significant issue over the next couple of years. I assume the foundation has communicated directly with the Minister on the range of issues on which it has concerns and would appreciate some clarification from the Minister in that regard.

Section 5 relates to the issue of intoxicating liquor and I read somewhere that the Minister intends to look at this area in its totality. The figures produced by the Health Promotion Agency today show that we have a serious problem with intoxicating liquor in this State. The scary fact is that the problem affects an increasingly younger age group. I am aware the Minister criticised the vintners on the suspension of their involvement with MEAS, but the problem goes well beyond the vintners. I believe the problem lies at supermarket level and to a lesser extent off-licence level. Supermarkets, in particular the multiples, have ridiculous offers on beers, spirits and many other alcoholic drinks. The social media also promotes drinking parties in car parks and people are continually encouraged to buy drink. To make no bones about it, alcohol is being sold in many of our major supermarkets at below-cost level. This is hidden and the offers are dressed up in various ways. There is gross negligence of the law in supermarkets and supermarket multiples throughout the country.

We must do something about this, but we may be too late because we already have a serious health issue. A code of practice is fine and is a good start, but we all know what happens with regard to codes of practice in the supermarket industry. The code is something nice that goes up in a frame inside the door, but that is it. The frame is cleaned once a week, and nobody heeds the code once it is put on the wall. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, is here wearing her justice hat, but perhaps she should put on her health hat. As a Parliament, it is urgent that we address the issues of under age drinking and the accessibility of alcohol. While the introduction of a code of practice is a beginning, there must be a far greater concentration on this issue.

I understand there were lively exchanges in the Seanad regarding the Bill's bankruptcy provisions. I am quite satisfied with the provisions, which represent a major change in the existing situation. We must allow the changes to bed down and see how they work in practice. I understand the Minister is intent on bringing forward proposals as part of the bailout agreement deal with the EU and IMF which will incorporate this and associated issues. Perhaps this matter can be revisited early next year as part of that broader review. While there is a need to change the law, there is no sense in weakening it to the extent that it becomes ineffective. Bankruptcy should not assume the status of a code of honour or become like a tattoo. It has to mean something and must be a strong enough sanction. The Minister's proposals in this regard in Part 7 are satisfactory.

I have spoken about the Minister's track record in respect of the proposals in Part 8 which seek to allow greater access to legal aid. We had a brief discussion on this matter at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and I welcomed the tone of the Minister's proposals on that occasion. They are as relevant to this section as they were to our previous discussion. Unfortunately, even though we are changing the law, many people may not be able to access legal aid simply because the resources are not there. This is in no small part due to aid being granted to people who should not receive it. As I recall, the Minister referred to resources of "unknown background".

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