Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Alcohol abuse is a complex and social problem and it requires a multifaceted approach, not one approach that is doomed to fail. I do not believe we will tackle the problems we have through crude, misleading and perhaps downright untruthful health warnings on our alcohol products. There is every reason to believe that this proposal is doomed to fail at EU level. That has been said by some people in the Minister's Department so let us deal with that. Why bring forward a provision in a Bill that is doomed to fail? Deputy Harris is the Minister for Health so surely he can make a good call on this.

I wish to mention briefly the impact these measures will have on the distilleries and breweries that have diversified in recent years to become visitor centres. We have heard many Government Deputies talking about breweries and, indeed, we have seen them photographed at the opening of many breweries and distilleries throughout the country. Now the Minister is trying to destroy them. In recent years we have built our national tourism strategy on visitor experiences rather than tourist destinations. The Irish food and drink experience has now become an internationally traded tourism message and many small breweries and distilleries have diversified to incorporate visitor centres and the tasting experience. These operations are not primary alcohol wholesale or retail outlets yet they are at risk of being caught in a legislative net that never set out to trap them. Parts of this Bill have not been thought through properly. Derogations must be made to protect these visitor centres, many of which are a living history interpretation of age old crafts.

These centres have become important ingredients in the development of tourism activity in rural locations. We are depending on this. Our local economies are dependent on it and they will collapse, not that people in Dublin appear to care anyway. The centres have become a vital contributor to rural economies. In my constituency of Offaly, Tullamore Dew employs 120 people between the distillery at Clonminch and the visitor centre in the town. It attracts approximately 45,000 visitors. It was a huge investment project. I do not wish to see these positive developments impacted in a negative manner by sections in this Bill pertaining to misleading labelling and signage constraints, which will be dealt with later. These sections lack common sense and could do irreparable damage to the local economy of many rural counties. The Minister is here to represent rural Ireland as well.

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