Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----brevity. They had a very rumbustious and robust debate with the Senator on the issue of Good Friday. There are diverging views. This morning on "Morning Ireland" we heard Senator Horkan and Senator Reilly have a very passionate debate on the matter. I am sure the matter will be debated again. There is no uniformity of view on it. The one issue Senator Norris is right to raise is the issue of binge buying of alcohol on Holy Thursday. It needs to be addressed because we have an issue with the misuse of alcohol in our country. The Government is committed to doing that in the sale of alcohol Bill. The Bill will be with us before the summer recess. The issue of alcohol is one we need to see addressed as a society. It is a societal issue. It is important we work to reduce the sale of alcohol and also the harm of alcohol. It causes huge distress in many families.

Senator Butler raised the issue of the self-employed and the change the Government has made. The Senator is a champion of the self-employed in this House, to be fair to him. The Minister, Deputy Varadkar, has done a lot of good things in the Department on the issue of the class of stamp and extending benefits to the self-employed. I would be happy to have the Minister come to the House again on the matter.

Senator Colm Burke raised the issue of having a no mobile phone day. I would very much love to see us all try to have that. It might be worth doing as an exercise to see how long we last without a mobile phone. I wonder if we could survive without it. It is an interesting point that as a society we have become reliant on our phones and social media. It is a worry when one sits on buses or is in a pub or restaurant and sees people on the phone rather than engaging in conversation. Perhaps we will try it as an exercise some day. I am guilty of doing it here in the House but when Senator Craughwell, for example, wants to bring in the Minister it is handy to be able to text the Minister and see where he or she is.