John Whelan (Labour)

I would like to second Senator Bacik's proposal that at the earliest opportunity we should have a mature, honest and open debate in this House on the question of alcohol, alcohol abuse and on the sale, price and advertising of alcohol. Every Member has been inundated with requests from parents and teachers across the country for us to do so. Any sensible and right-minded person would know that we can no longer bury our heads in the sand on this issue with regard to what is going on across the country. It is important that we give proper and fair consideration to what I regard to be common sense proposals put forward by the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall.

I regret to report to the House that my old friends in EirGrid are back to their old tricks. After promising courtesy in public engagement, the company is now behaving once again more like the old KGB than the old ESB by riding roughshod over the rural communities. In my own area across the scenic landscape of Stradbally and Rathnesk and Timahoe, 17 new high voltage power lines are planned. I do not understand how this is conceivable or how it can happen. We were promised this would not happen-----