Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I listened carefully to the comments of the Minister of State. Everything he stated backs up the case I have made. This is a very desirable measure. As anybody who examines it will see, what it hits really hard are cheap, high alcohol content drinks. If a drink has a very low alcohol content, one can sell it in volume more cheaply because minimum unit pricing will not have the same impact. The impact of the measure relates to the alcohol content of the drink.

We need to do this. The Minister of State did not address why Scotland was able to do it in spite of the fact that it has a land border with England but we cannot do it. With or without the other jurisdiction on this island, we need to get on with the job. Like every other Deputy, I would much prefer everything to be done on an all-Ireland basis and it would be much better if both sides had got on with this two years ago but we have been putting this on the long finger since 2013. There is no reason why we could not act unilaterally.

I am glad the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is present because, as he knows, we distorted the market by putting a carbon tax on certain products when there is no equivalent tax on them in Northern Ireland. There were abuses of that to a certain level but it certainly improved things down here in the South. It is true that petrol and diesel are much cheaper in the South than they are in Northern Ireland and that people come over the Border to buy them, which distorts trade.

Alcohol is a much more public good than either of those two products and the introduction of minimum unit pricing will save a significant number of lives. We need a commitment from the Government that before this year is out, this provision will be commenced with or without Northern Ireland. Its commencement here may encourage the Northern Ireland authorities to move in a progressive way.

As I stated, we are not trying to stop people accessing alcohol at the normal prices at which they access it. Rather, what this measure will hit is the abuse of alcohol. As the Minister of State pointed out, it will hit those who buy very high alcohol content drinks, which I will not name tonight, at a ridiculously low price and do incredible damage. We know that young people in particular are tempted in that direction.

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