Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was great. There were some changes in my local town of Nenagh, which were positive, and I implored the council to do other works that were complementary, which was great. I hope we will not end up here again and that the miscellaneous provisions Bill being brought forward will deal with this and regularise the whole situation, so we do not have to be coming in here talking about the obvious every six months. I know my former colleague, Brendan Howlin, used to love coming in here every six months when he was spokesperson talking about this and about the fact that there were 650,000 people out on the streets of Wexford during fleadhs and stuff. This really has to be regularised.

While we have outdoor seating, it is important that those who operate in the hospitality industry have guidance from the Minister on the proliferation of non-alcoholic branded beers, which is a good thing. I spoke about this recently. Publicans and people working in the industry are selling non-alcoholic beers to adults with no issue. However, there are well-known alcoholic brands with a non-alcoholic version that is being sold to adults who are giving it to children. I asked the Minister a parliamentary question on this, and his response was: "The prohibition does not apply to alcohol free alternatives." We know who the brands are so I will not mention them and give them promotion, but in zero-branded beer there is a tiny trace of alcohol. That is the first issue. The second issue is for those working in the industry. If this is allowed to happen, and a person walks in and orders two pints of the alcoholic version and one pint of the non-alcoholic version, there are indistinguishable once they are laid on the table or the counter. It is impossible. The person or people working there cannot then distinguish if the person under 18 is drinking the alcoholic or the non-alcoholic version. This is a significant issue. It is unfair on workers and on licensees. In a way, it is an unintended consequence.

My biggest issue with non-alcoholic versions of well-known branded alcoholic drinks is their cost. As a State, we need to examine how we can bring that down and how that can be encouraged. It is ridiculous. I can go down the street from this Chamber and it might cost €7 for a pint, which is ridiculous for a pint in the first place, but it will cost €6 or €6.50 for the non-alcoholic version of it. In my local pub the pint is €5.50 or less, which is still expensive.

However, to have to pay €6.50 for a non-alcoholic version of the same drink and try to encourage people to drive and be the designated driver or just not drink alcohol is absolutely ridiculous. What does need some guidance, however, is whether publicans and those working in hospitality in bars, restaurants and hotels should serve non-alcoholic branded beer to adults who are going to give it to people aged under 18. I do not necessarily think the Government can legislate for this. Guidance is needed here because people have been left in difficult scenarios where they did not know what the right thing to do was in this-----

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