Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I thank Members for their kindness, good humour and generosity of spirit throughout the passage of this legislation. I thank the Cathaoirleach and officials of the Houses of the Oireachtas for facilitating the late sitting and all the efforts made to ensure the legislation was passed before the summer recess. It could have fallen casualty to the huge queue of legislation. It is important that the message goes out now rather than later. Nothing would have been gained by delaying the legislation until the autumn but a lot would have been lost.

I pay tribute to the officials in my Department who turned the Bill round so quickly. Gordon Holmes's commission reported in March and all the policy issues had to be teased out in April and May. As Senators can see, some of them in regard to hotels, hotel bars and the happy hour etc. required immense amounts of detailed thought. There were times when I thought that the idea of a compulsory age card could not be made work because of some of the issues that arose. My officials put huge ingenuity and skill into drafting the legislation. I was a hard taskmaster in asking that it be done so rapidly. I am grateful to them.

I thank those involved in the Commission on Liquor Licensing, Gordon Holmes and the members of the commission and the others involved. The commission gave rise to this legislation. The full fruits of its labour will only be seen next year. The officials responsible for this legislation also played a large role in the functioning of the commission. An enormous amount of hard work was done behind the scenes.

I am happy to confirm that the general rule of law that nobody is responsible criminally for the acts of another does not apply to licensees. I direct Members to page 104 and succeeding pages of Liquor Licensing Law of Ireland by James Woods, third edition, which set out at great length that, unfortunately, licensees are liable for the acts of their servants or agents acting within the scope of their employment.

I thank Members of the House for what has been a rewarding and valuable experience. I fully appreciate that the law is a tiny fraction of the solutions that are available to us in relation to all the issues regarding drink and youth culture. However, I am equally clear that if we did not enact this law, the people would ask us what we were doing about the issue. Whereas it is not the entirety of the solution, or even the majority of it, it is a valuable piece of work and I am deeply grateful to this House for all the efforts Members have put into making it much better.

Question put and agreed to.