Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a big problem with this in that I do not want the labelling in English or Irish because, quite simply, it is making us the laughing stock of the rest of the world. Nowhere else do people feel fit to put these labels on alcohol. Why do we have to race to the bottom? We are speaking about putting it in Irish and English when we should not be putting it at all. It comes back to this thing called common sense. People know that if they take too much alcohol on a daily, weekly or monthly basis it will be bad for them. It is the same as sweet cake. Sweet cake is not bad for people if they take it in moderation but if they take it continuously in the morning, in the middle of the day and at night time they will get overweight and it will be bad for them. They will probably get diabetes and other medical problems so, therefore, it is bad. We should have everything in moderation. I do not see why we should go on this crusade that will give a bad impression of us to the rest of Europe and the world. People who come here will look at the alcohol products we sell here and we export, and we will be out of step with everybody else in that we will label them.

A great friend of mine, Michael O'Connor, is 104 years of age. Thankfully he is still with us and facing into his 105th year. On many occasions I have asked him what is the secret and if we cannot learn from a man who is 104, we can learn from nobody. He always looks up at the sky, throws his head back and says "everything in moderation". It is okay to drink, it is okay to eat and it is okay to do everything, but do it in moderation.

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