Mary Henry (Independent)

I also support the Minister. Like Senator Terry, I am dismayed by seeing small children in bars. It is a terrible sight and children do not much like it either. This section might appeal to adults because it might be nice to be in a pub without having a crowd of small children on top of one after 9 p.m. Perhaps it will encourage me to go into pubs more often than I have in the recent past.

The Minister is right about 15, 16 and 17 year olds because when we discussed the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda, and accident and emergency departments in hospitals, one of the most difficult groups to deal with was children aged between 15 and 17 years. Dr. Mary Holohan, the consultant in charge of the sexual assault unit in the Rotunda, said the most difficult night to get anyone to staff the department – she always has to do it herself – was the night the junior certificate results came out, not the leaving certificate. This is a serious issue.

Like the Minister, I rely on the ingenuity of the publican on Bere Island. I bet he would have a room somewhere in which to put children in order that he would not lose his clientele.