Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The term "structural separation" has caused a significant problem. It is the term used in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 where structural separation was proposed by the then Government. This would involve an actual wall being built along with a till and a separate door and alcohol being located within that unit which would be structurally separate from the rest of the shop or supermarket. This is a hangover from that piece of legislation. I believe this term does not adequately reflect what we want, which is restricting visibility so that children and young people will not be attracted to alcohol. We can certainly look at this on Report Stage and consider something that would be more appropriate. Members can see from the illustrations we produced that we are not asking anybody to structurally separate the premises. We are asking them to visually separate alcohol from the view of children and young people. That is all that is being required here. I hope this clears the matter up for the Senator.