Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome what the Minister has said. Some people might be surprised that I support the legislation bearing in mind my background of community work and helping people who have problems with alcohol, in particular family members. I am in favour of the change because I believe it will help reduce the harm that alcohol does to the health of our people, which is interesting enough.

In recent years, Holy Thursday has been the day on which people become frenzied as though alcohol was about to be prohibited. The excessive amounts of alcohol that are bought because the pubs are closed on Good Friday is a sad reflection on our society. Alcohol is then consumed in homes in the presence of young children. I am really concerned about this unhealthy example that gives children. Members are all familiar with the recently-published report by Dr. Geoffrey Shannon in which he cited the impact alcohol misuse has on children. In addition, bar workers look forward to not working on a Good Friday and being able to spend time with their families. Any changes made to the licensing laws must ensure that one can opt to work on a Good Friday and workers are paid the same rate as that which applies to a bank holiday.

The idea of a pub being a regulated environment should make it easy for the responsible server of alcohol to be built in as a requirement in licensing law in Ireland. Many people drink at home before they go out to socialise, which means many licensed premises serve alcohol to people who already are intoxicated. The important issue is not whether the pubs are allowed open on Good Friday but our unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I hope it is okay to say a little bit about this matter. This matter is being addressed by the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. There is a genuine disbelief around the country that public representatives do not favour a Bill that will save lives. The lobbying by the retail and alcohol industries must not be allowed to shape Government policy. The aims of the alcohol industry to maximise consumption and the aims of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill to save lives are incompatible.The saving of even one life is much more important than the profits of multinational corporations. Three people die every day in Ireland from an alcohol-related illness and this must be tackled.

I am encouraged by the fact that both An Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar and the Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Micheál Martin have both been Ministers for Health and must know that alcohol is a psychoactive drug and should be treated as such. I hope they will put the health of the nation before the wealth of the alcohol industry. The fact that alcohol is legal does not reduce the harm it does and we have an obligation to ensure that Ireland is not defined by our consumption of this drug. I hope we will arrive at a time when the idea of the pubs being open or closed on Good Friday will be irrelevant.