Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister to the House and this amending Bill which is a positive step. Since the Minister, Deputy McDowell, took office, he has stated his intention to address the chronic alcohol abuse and under-age drinking endemic in society. Extending the cut-off time from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. from May to October is another positive step. Even though a more detailed Bill on the licensing laws will be introduced, the 10 p.m. rule should be kept under review with the industry and the Garda. As Senator Ryan has stated, it would be positive if this were a year round provision. The Minister has displayed unprecedented willingness to be open-minded and prepared to change if it is necessary.

Until recently, numerous Administrations failed to address the worsening alcohol problem. From time to time we have persisted in addressing the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself. This has been by way of various approaches from closing pubs earlier to extending the number of licences. However, we must get to the root cause of the problem which is one of culture and attitude. In addressing the cultural attitude to alcohol, changes will have to be made. The Minister referred to providing additional licences for café culture establishments. However, I do not see great merit in this encouragement as 16,000 licences are already available with more than enough access to alcohol. While it is great that one can buy a beer in McDonalds in Italy and Spain, Irish alcohol culture is not ready for such a direction. In the context of alcohol abuse, we could cut out under age drinking if there was a statutory identification card because there would not be the opportunity for these fake identification cards. It would, effectively, remove from the publican an obligation to make a judgment call. In the United States, there are random identification checks, whether people are in the 60s or 20s. That would be a great advantage. I believe the Minister would be interested in such a measure and I hope we could implement it in the future. As I said, there are many other positive aspects to such a measure, for example, one's PPS number could be on the card.

In terms of addressing the drink culture, education in terms of showing young people the benefits and the woes of alcohol and that it can be enjoyed in moderation is the way to go. In regard to creating alternatives, perhaps we could involve the GAA and ask it to hold non-alcohol events for people. Pricing is also an issue, particularly when one considers that it is almost as expensive to drink coca cola or other soft drinks. We have a role to play in that regard. A variety of activities should be arranged for young people in the evenings so the focus would not be on going out and getting drunk. They could go out and celebrate whatever event or just have a Saturday evening out. Parents have a huge role to play in terms of incentivising their children and leading them away from alcohol. I welcome the Bill and ask the Minister to be cognisant of the points I made.