Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue in the health area, specifically preventative health. We do a lot of talking about fiscal space and I do not know whether anyone fully understands what they are talking about in that context, but the reality is that we would have a lot more fiscal space in the economy if we took a much more preventative approach to health care. I apologise if reference has already been made to it, but with that in mind, the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill is due before the House soon and I wanted to give the Leader the opportunity to let us know when that is, because we have to stand up as legislators on this point.We have to be brave on it. We need to implement the vast majority of the Bill that came before the House. The citizens need us to do that. We have a broken relationship with alcohol in this country and we cannot compare ourselves to other countries in Europe. It has gone beyond the stage where comparisons of that nature are worthwhile. I believe and hope that it is coming to us soon. I think it needs to be implemented and become policy in this country for the citizens, not for big business.