Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I am glad to have an opportunity to make a few points on the Bill. We would welcome anything that can assist in changing our culture of binge drinking, as the Minister has rightly pointed out. I take a drink myself and enjoy it. As a nation, as the Minister said, we all drink too much and it is very much a cultural thing. Many administrations have wrestled with what is the correct approach in legislation to help change the culture. There is no question that the Bill is an honest and good effort in trying to achieve that objective. I am not sure whether much in the legislative world can change that culture. Ultimately, we need to face up to it as individuals, as people and as a society and begin, through education, parenting, guardianship and peer caring, to address this issue and bring the great social life we all enjoy and want in Irish society to a different level of interaction where it is not dependent on alcohol, binge drinking and so on.

I welcome most of the provisions in the Bill. There is one particular issue I want to mention and I also wish to outline a few thoughts on other approaches we might try. Section 20 provides for the segregation of alcohol at points of sale. This issue arose in 2008 and 2009 when a former Minister, Mr. Dermot Ahern, dealt with it. There was a strong lobby in this area, particularly from small retailers. I am not that concerned about the larger businesses that may have greater resources to deal with it but I understand the type of barriers envisaged can give rise to problems. There are approximately 1,500 smaller retailers - such as small Centra outlets and so on - and 1,100 larger ones which are all subscribers to Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland, a body which was established in 2008 or 2009 and which has an independent chairman, Mr. Padraic White. On an annual basis, the body carries out its own auditing and makes reports available to the Minister for Justice and Equality to show the level of compliance of those 2,600 retailers with a code of conduct relating to responsible retailing and merchandising which ensures that alcohol is not displayed in incorrect places in stores. etc. My understanding is that there has been a 95% compliance rate in that regard. When the heads of the Bill were being drawn up in February, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, met representatives from Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland, which supports the legislation, but there was no mention of segregation at that point. Segregation means that shop owners will have to erect barriers on their premises. I presume that such barriers would have to be a minimum of 6 ft. in height in order to minimise the chance of people seeing what is on sale behind them or to prevent them entering that particular part of the shop. I see that heads are being shaken. That is great. I am glad I am wrong. Perhaps the Minister will enlighten us as to the way in which the barriers will manifest themselves and how the smaller 1,500 retailers will deal with this issue.

I understand that, at a meeting in October at the hand-over of the legislation from the Department of Justice and Equality to the Department of Health of this particular issue, the Minister, or his officials, met Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland and an agreement was reached in respect of consultation. However, no such consultation took place. Effectively, the provision relating to barriers is new and it only emerged this week. I am aware the industry is particularly concerned about it and the cost implications for smaller retailers throughout the country. Clearly, there is time to deal with this issue on Committee Stage. Given that we have a 95% compliance rate in terms of responsible retailing of alcohol, what is the problem, particularly if we want alcohol to be moved away from sweets, confectionary and other products in shops? I am not opposed to the spirit of the legislation because we all want the same result. However, this is an issue that has re-emerged since 2009 and I am not so sure whether about the science being used to back it up. I am concerned with regard to the implications for the 1,500 smaller retailers throughout the country. I ask the Minister to take a closer look at the issue. I also ask that his officials make contact with Responsible Retailers of Alcohol in Ireland in order that it might give him the benefit of its research. Its independent chair, Mr. Padraic White, oversees the auditing of compliance in this regard.We may achieve the same or better outcomes without the necessity for expense. I ask the Minister to contact that organisation.

The minimum pricing, advertising controls and health warnings the Minister proposes to introduce are all very important. Successful and welcome changes to the regulations governing the advertising of smoking have benefited all of us and helped many, including me, to cut back on smoking or give up the habit. The culture surrounding alcohol consumption worsened when people started to drink more at home and outside controlled drinking environments such as pubs and dances. While some people like to have a drink at home rather than going out, I do not consider it a healthy practice. When I was growing up alcohol was not as accessible as it is today, especially in terms of price. Last Christmas, I bought a case of 20 bottles of premium lager for €15 or €16. I thought it was fine at the time because I was 42 years old and I still had a substantial number of bottles left in June this year. However, for those aged 18 years who are in a position to buy a case of alcohol for €16, the 20 bottles may not last the rest of the evening because at that age one does not have the necessary maturity.

My friends who retail alcohol responsibly may not be happy to hear my view that alcohol is sold much too cheaply in the retail and off-licence sectors. We would be served better if alcohol was more expensive. If people wish to drink alcohol, I would prefer if they did so in a controlled environment, especially younger people because responsible bar staff would be able to advise them that, for example, a triple vodka may not be the correct drink or they may have had enough and would be welcome back in the pub the following weekend. This is preferable to drinking in uncontrolled environments.

The Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Fund Bill I introduced in the House some time ago was voted down by the Government side. The concept behind the Bill was to impose an additional levy on off-sales, including supermarket sales of alcohol, and ring-fence income from the levy for mental health and suicide prevention efforts. As the Minister is aware, when the health service faces financial challenges, the mental health budget is all too often the first budget to be raided. This has been done several times, including when an allocation of €30 million for mental health services was swiped. The issue of off-sales versus on-sales of alcohol must be addressed, notwithstanding the measures in the Bill before us.

I welcome the Bill and beseech the Minister to tease out with the industry the issue of segregation. There are many ways to skin a cat. We do not want to increase costs for smaller struggling retailers if they are avoidable. Some consultation would be beneficial in this regard. Perhaps amendments will be introduced on Committee Stage.