Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

First, in the case that an injustice would be done by a conviction, there is always the Probation Act as a way out for the District Court. Having said that, if I accede to these amendments I would be saying that everyone has one free go at being done for drunkenness and the closure regime would not apply on that occasion. That would send out the wrong signal as it would suggest to every publican in Dublin that this will never happen to them unless it happens once and they are prosecuted. A point made constantly yesterday was enforcement, with Senators asking where the gardaí were, who would bring the prosecutions and if they would see any results.