Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

I have not had a drink of alcohol in thirteen and a half years. Alcohol and its negative impacts have played a huge part in my life. I say this and share it because there is hardly a family in Ireland which has not had the same experience. Once again, therefore, what is the Department's position? I know very well that I can seek an answer from the Minister for Health about her position, but the Minister of State has just told me that his Department has corresponded with the Minister for Health on this. What is he trying to say? This is not a new thing. It has been the subject of full consultation. It was introduced by the Taoiseach back in 2018, and it is wrong and unfair to dangle it as a response to tariffs when it will not even help those Irish companies involved because it does not have an impact on exports. Distributors are already putting labels on products in anticipation of what might happen, so all this would do is cause confusion if the Government were to roll it back. What is the Department's position, as opposed to that of the Department of Health, on the matter?

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