Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government increased the duty on alcohol sales in pubs, which had a further crippling effect on the licensed trade in many of our town centres.

I acknowledge the empathy the Minister mentioned and her contribution to the debate. I respect her decision not to accept the Bill, but I remain to be convinced of her assertion that the new district councils will have the wherewithal to do much of what I am proposing. This is a crisis that has been allowed to fester for the last couple of years and it is high time-----

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