Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am heeding the Cathaoirleach's recommendation. I have no difficulty with the smooth passage of the Bill and I will do nothing to thwart that, but it is important the Minister is conscious of our position and knows our various perspectives and the people we represent. I am genuinely concerned about jobs in the Border region, in the retail sector and local supermarkets. I visited a large supermarket in Cootehill town this morning and met and spoke to a senior board member of RGDATA there. He indicated the prices he can sell at and showed me slabs of Budweiser and other drinks that he can sell at €20. That is quite scary and quite a problem. I take the point that this is a problem for young people especially and for us all. Therefore, we need minimum pricing. That man also indicated - other people in the retail sector would also indicate this, and Senator Wilson also said this - that those in that sector are currently threatened by Northern Ireland trade, but were we to have a significant price differential here, we would have a flood of business. That supermarket in Cootehill town is an important employer. It employs 60 people and that man said he would have to lay off three staff immediately if there was a price differential. That would be replicated in all the villages and towns of the county and more specifically in the corner shops. It is a serious matter for that area.

We need to have the Assembly up and running and to have co-ordination on this with the North. I take the former Minister for Health's point that we must show leadership. There is a leadership factor in the passage of this legislation, but leadership does not necessarily mean dislocating jobs in an area where they are not replaceable. It is not easy to bring those jobs to that area when we cannot replace them or attract industry to the area. With great respect to my colleague, we are not lacking in leadership, and I know he would accept that. There is no lack of leadership involved here; it is a question of leadership while retaining jobs. Were we to solve one problem and create another, that would not be a satisfactory outcome. It is not beyond the genius of the Minister and the Department and interaction at governmental level to achieve uniformity on this and national uniformity on pricing. It should be done. I intuitively have a sense that our Northern brethren, from all I know about them and their culture and heritage, would be more likely to have an immediate buy-in to alcohol curtailment. One would assume that. We should be able to arrive at a consensus on this but, clearly, it is an issue in my area and it is a jobs issue.It is not just a fanciful abstract thing; it is about real jobs for real people who will not get employment again.