Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to make a short contribution to this debate and put it on the record of the House that I support this Bill. I do not drink but I do go to pubs, clubs and hotels with friends and I can have a mineral or water.

One thing I see from time to time is the shocking abuse of alcohol. At times, we, as politicians, must stand up, be brave and do the right thing. If one visits, or has a family member in, an emergency department in any part of the country at the weekend, much of what one sees late on a Friday night or a Saturday night is down to the absolute abuse of alcohol. In recent years, I have witnessed with my own eyes what the staff, the doctors, the nurses and the ambulance people, have to go through. It is what families have to go through also.

I do not know if Members have ever seen the family of a young lad or lassie who has excess alcohol in her or his system and it is an issue of life or death called to the hospital. The worry and distress caused to those people are shocking. Abuse of alcohol also causes accidents and broken families. People talk about a shortage of money, not being able to pay the mortgage and breaking up families. The abuse of alcohol has done horrendous damage to families.

I refer to violence and poverty. Often in the case of people who are well paid, much of their money goes on alcohol. If they have a family, that leads to poverty for that family. Ill health is also a huge issue. I have spoken to consultants and doctors about supporting the Bill. They will say the abuse of alcohol is costing the health service millions of euro. We have to take that into account. Most of all, I refer to the worry and distress caused to families, which is why I support the Bill.

Before I conclude, I refer to a couple of things of which we need to be careful. We are giving support to breweries and we all acknowledge these are lovely little businesses. However, I spoke to a man developing a brewery in Lanesborough, County Longford. He hopes to bring 25,000 visitors to that village if he gets his brewery up and running. That happens because breweries are interesting places to visit in terms of the story being told. Locke's Distillery in Kilbeggan attracts 70,000 people a year. It is wonderful to hear that story.

To some extent, attention needs to be paid to what breweries are stating. I partly agree with Deputy Bobby Aylward about using the word "cancer" the labels on bottles. Abuse of alcohol will cause cancer. However, abuse of certain foods will also cause cancer. Perhaps we might look at a label stating: "Abuse of alcohol causes ill health". People in the business would not be against this.

People in various parts of rural Ireland are developing breweries and the stories around them. That will be good for tourism. As some of the proposals on labels and advertising could affect them, perhaps the Minister might take that into account. Overall, it is my duty to be upfront and say I want to support the Bill. However, I would like to see the one or two reservations I have addressed.

See this speech in context