Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Health and thank him for his opening remarks. He set the tone for a constructive debate. It is a question of public health and nobody here, whether in the Visitors Gallery, the Dáil or the Seanad needs to be reminded of the pain and suffering the irresponsible use of alcohol causes, most of all to minors and children but also to families, husbands, wives and loved ones. We all agree on that.

The Taoiseach has charged the Minister with responsibility for this issue. I read some of the earlier debates on this Bill and was conscious of how he was driving this. This is Government policy. That is what we would expect of any government, that it would drive a policy. Some aspects of this Bill were not in the programme for Government but I broadly support it because it is worth supporting. I echo what the Minister said about there being many more strands to be dealt with in respect of educating people, dealing with alcohol and a range of other issues. This is a start. The spirit of the Bill is good but I have concerns about some of its measures which I will outline as we go through this process. I thank the Minister's commitment to engaging on this. I went to Greystones, to Quinsboro Road in Bray, to Arklow and Wicklow, four locations in the Minister's constituency, because I know them-----