Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I am a liberal by disposition and people should control their behaviour better. Had I said that I would have been screamed out of public existence for taking a blasé attitude to serious situations. There is a balance to be achieved in this. In saying that evidence of age was required for young drinkers we went as far as we could down the road to control under-age drinking. In the Dáil, for instance, the then Fine Gael spokesman on justice said he would not support my Bill at all unless I outlawed all 21 year olds from all drinking establishments everywhere in Ireland. It is very simple for people to erase from their memories——