Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

We will share that time.

We are debating this Bill because major public health issues surround alcohol in this country. Many people enjoy their alcohol, have a positive relationship with it and look on it as a positive in their lives but many people do not. I will read some facts into the record. There are 88 deaths every month in Ireland that are directly attributable to alcohol. One in four deaths of men aged 15 to 39 in Ireland is alcohol-related. Every day 1,500 beds in our hospitals are occupied by people with alcohol-related problems. This incurs a huge cost to both the individuals affected and to society. The annual cost to the health service of alcohol-related disease is €1.5 billion. The estimated cost to the State when non-health issues, such as driving offences, violence, domestic violence, mental health and child welfare issues, are added to this is €2.35 billion. In 2016 an estimated 300,000 working days were lost due to alcohol.

This is a modest Bill. The restrictions it would place on the alcohol industry are relatively mild compared with those that have been placed on the industry in other countries, including other European countries. However, in opposition to the Bill we have seen on the part of a multi-billion-euro industry a lobbying campaign of which there have not been many similar examples in recent years or even further back in time. University students of the future might well do theses on the lobbying campaign that was waged by big business in the form of the alcohol industry to take the teeth from this Bill and to have it watered down.

The Irish Timeshas published some fascinating information about this lobbying campaign which I will read into the record of the House. It refers to lobbying in the form of face-to-face meetings, receptions, letters, emails, contact through social media etc. from the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland, ABFI, the Vintners Federation of Ireland, Retail Excellence Ireland, RGDATA, the Convenience Stores & Newsagents Association, Heineken, the DAA, Slane Castle Irish Whiskey Limited and an organisation called Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland Limited. A colleague saw the latter name and wondered whether there had been a split and the other faction might be called irresponsible retailers of alcohol in Ireland limited. Incidentally, Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland Limited is chaired by a former IDA chief executive officer, Padraic White.

The article in The Irish Timesindicates some of the lobbying that has gone on. On behalf of the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland, Ms Patricia Callan made six contacts with Ministers, five with Ministers of State, one with the Taoiseach's chief of staff, six with special advisers, two with assistant departmental secretaries, 15 with Deputies, 21 with Senators and one with an MEP. Also on behalf of ABFI, Mr. Jonathan McDade made five contacts with Senators. His colleague Lorraine Hall made seven contacts with Senators, three with special advisers and one with a Deputy. Mr. William Lavelle, a former special adviser at the Department of Justice and Equality, made one contact with a Minister, two with Ministers of State and two with Fine Gael Deputies. The director of the public relations firm Q4, former Fianna Fáil general secretary Martin Mackin, lobbied against the Bill. He contacted six Fianna Fáil Deputies, six Senators and one special adviser.

This is a major campaign. Let us consider the way in which it has operated. The following amendments were suggested to Senators by Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland Limited. The first amendment it suggested to section 20 of the Bill was, in page 21, line 23, to delete the words "one year" and substitute the words "two years". Lo and behold, an amendment was tabled in the name of Senator Swanick stating, "In page 21, line 23, to delete "one year" and substitute "two years"." The second amendment suggested by Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland, RRAI, read, "In page 21, lines 28 to 30, to delete all words from and including "through" in line 28 down to and including line 30." Senator Swanick tabled an amendment stating, "In page 21, lines 28 to 30, to delete all words from and including "through" in line 28 down to and including line 30." The third amendment proposed by the RRAI read, "In page 22, to delete lines 17 and 18." Senator Swanick tabled an amendment stating, "In page 22, to delete lines 17 and 18." The fourth amendment proposed by the RRAI was, in page 22, to delete lines 33 and 34 and substitute the wording of what constitutes a stand-alone off-licence in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008. Senator Swanick tabled a very similar amendment. The RRAI recommended, in page 23, line 3, to delete "one year" and substitute "two years". Senator Swanick tabled an amendment stating, "In page 23, line 3, to delete “one year” and substitute “two years”." The sixth and last amendment suggested by the retailers was, in page 23, line 9, after "not", to insert the words "immediately adjoin a storage unit or storage units containing other beverages or food products". Senator Swanick, showing a bit of independence here, tabled an amendment stating "after “not” to insert [one word, namely] “immediately”", which is only slightly different. This was a cut-and-paste job on the part of a Fianna Fáil Senator as the Bill was being debated.

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