Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am talking about labelling and balance. All of the labels in the world could have been on the alcohol that night but it was sold all the same. It could have been labelled everywhere and labels wrapped around it but it would be sold. We are going after the wrong area and this proposal will make a serious and negative impact on employment, production, businesses and people who want to be entrepreneurs and workers and get the job done. We are not focusing on the major problem of young people drinking. They are drinking on the streets and in fields and causing public order offences. There is teenage drinking with taxis collecting alcohol and dropping at houses for teenagers to drink.

We have gone down this road in a hurry to be the best boys in Europe. I do not know what kudos we are trying to get but we are doing this without a proper analysis of the damage and destruction that this is doing and the benefits that we will get from it. Tourists will come here and laugh at us. I do not believe this measure will see the light of day if someone takes a challenge to our friends in the EU because it makes no sense. That is a discussion for another day, however.

I am speaking on behalf of the ordinary daoine na hÉireann, the people involved in microbrewery businesses and those who want to sell alcohol over the counter in licensed premises. Licences are placed behind the bar and can be inspected by the Garda or anybody else at any time. There are also health and safety and food inspections.

We are crippling ordinary businesses. I accept we are doing so with good intentions. I am not questioning the bona fides but it is a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a chestnut. It will have negative repercussions on microbreweries, pubs and other outlets. Pubs are an endangered species now. We give different status to different groups. We will have to give some kind of an ethnic status to the publicans because they are disappearing like snow off a ditch and we are passing legislation to close them down. They always pay wages, rates and VAT and give employment. Above all, they provide a place in many areas for functions to take place, whether after a funeral, engagement party or a match. In many areas there are no function rooms apart from in the pub. Publicans in many areas kept their lounges insured and paid rates on them to support the community. Níl neart go cur le chéile. This is not supporting the community and it will not have the desired effect either.

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