Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

This is why I cannot accept Senator Regan's suggestion that we should keep these nightclubs open until 4 a.m. The Government has decided that they should close at 3 a.m. and, unfortunately, this means Senator Bacik cannot dance all night in a nightclub.

There is a serious issue in the relationship we have with alcohol. I would love if our relationship with it were similar to that on the continent, where people can dance all night, do not bump into one another, cause fights and have problems with the law. Unfortunately, in Britain and Ireland the experience has been the opposite to that on the continent. In Britain and Ireland, the longer the opening hours and the greater the availability of alcohol the more it is likely there will be public order problems of a serious nature. This is the problem we are trying to address here.