Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Táimse glan in aghaidh an méid atá an Taoiseach tar éis a chur chun cinn. Is ionsaí eile e seo ar phócaí gnáth daoine - €145 milliún breise ag teacht as na pócaí céanna, cuid den scéim déine lena bhuil an Rialtas ag leanacht ar aghaidh. Is rud é seo atá agus a bheidh tubaisteach do cúrsaí eacnamaíochta. I am opposed to this and I will vote against it. I suppose we should at least be grateful that the Taoiseach had the grace not to try to justify it by arguing that it was for health reasons - or, maybe, to put it the other way around, he did not have the neck to argue that this new grab at the pockets of ordinary people was justified for health reasons.

There are serious health issues relating to alcohol, as there are relating to tobacco, in this society. They should be taken seriously and they should be addressed through serious measures. It is not a serious measure, in case anyone is pretending otherwise, to simply land more increases that hit in particular those who drink little alcohol or drink in moderation, which is most people. Those are the people who have been hit harshly by the austerity measures of the past five years. There is now another burden of a further €145 million if consumption remains stable. If the Government wants to implement serious measures to deal with alcohol, which has toxic effects in society, let us look at the social background and social issues, let us look at the glamorising of alcohol, and let us ban the advertising of alcohol right across the board in every medium in which it still exists, ban its glorification and deal with the issues that, unfortunately, give rise to serious problems among a certain cohort of our people who seriously abuse alcohol, which means serious abuse for those who are near and dear to them. This is not the way to do it. I oppose the measure.

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