Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

That is welcome.

We have the wrong system. When I had a bar and somebody asked me if I would buy a certain person a drink, I was very conscious that that person might have come out to have only two or three drinks and that he or she might have been driving. I thought it common courtesy to suggest to him or her that somebody wanted to buy him or her a drink and give him or her the opportunity to say, "No, thank you. I am driving." I used to pass on this message to the person offering to buy the drink and state to him or her that his or her gesture was welcome. Not many publicans do this. It is not something for which we could legislate but could recommend that they do so. I am sick and tired of having pints thrown in front of me when I am driving. If one is dealing with a constituent, one is insulting him or her by not drinking a pint he or she purchases for one. As Senator Jim Walsh rightly stated, one is throwing money down the sink. I do not know how we can address this problem.

The Bill contains many good provisions but I have a problem with section 21(1)(b), which deals with the responsibility of the off-licence to identify the products which will be sold on the premises. Will the Minister reconsider this proposal? It is not necessarily bad but impractical because the costs and labour involved in pricing an individual item are prohibitive and of no benefit. Will the Minister consider a provision whereby a judge could implement the aforementioned measure only where an off-licence has been prosecuted? In this case I would welcome it.

People drink a lot now, as they did 20 years ago, but I have no doubt that a mixture of substances is being taken nowadays. I live over a shop and note that, 20 years ago, people coming out of licensed premises had a scream but the screams today are very sinister because those involved have taken substances other than alcohol. We must tackle this issue also.