Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 13, to delete lines 36 and 37.

First, everyone here agrees with the spirit of the Bill. We all acknowledge that alcohol is a major problem right around the country. Most families, including my own, have been touched by problems with alcohol. However, there is being realistic and unrealistic. The reality is I did not drink Heineken because I saw the Heineken Cup. However, some members in my family had a problem with alcohol and I thank God that I do not.

The Minister may correct me if I am wrong. I spoke to members of the legal profession and the European Union controls the food and drink regulations in respect of labelling. If we are being honest around this House, we will be aware that putting this cancer label on it will not end up being legal. Secretly, when one talks to people around this House, many admit that it will not happen. We are running down a road. Do we move then to every bit of processed food, to sweets and to everything else where the same risk is involved because there is evidence that too much of all these other things causes cancer as well?

The other side of it is that there are breweries around this country. Everyone around the House supported the Bill Deputy Kelly brought in to help those in rural areas who set up microbreweries.

For those breweries to put one label on bottles they sell in Ireland and not on others will be a fiasco. Something of the order of 850,000 Yanks and people from other countries are coming here. They will look at this and say "My God, I will never touch this again in Ireland" while the same product is exported to their countries with nothing on it. What we are trying to do in respect of our own bit of employment is unbelievable. The nub of the issue is whether we are going down a road where every item we eat or drink will need to carry a warning. Too many minerals are bad for a person. The same is true of sweets so we had better put a warning on sweet packets. We had better put warnings on every single thing or else nothing. I know the Minister is straightforward. He knows that the legal opinion and the attitude in Europe is very questionable and it does not appear that this will be a runner. We are going to come to this House, therefore, put it to a vote and then decide a few months later. This will be in the balance for three years. We are in between the devil and the deep blue sea. We do not know what will happen.

The Minister should row back on this until we have clarification one way or the other. I am concerned about small businesses, especially the small breweries. Are we targeting them? Are we leaving ourselves open? It is fine if the Minister is going to say that this causes cancer but in respect of how many things will we be obliged to do this? Will we have to do it in the context of meat, sweets and every other thing? One cannot have one thing different to others when there is proof that too much of anything, as Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said earlier, causes problems for everybody. This is the one thing I would ask the Minister to reconsider.

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