Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is a clarification and it is fair enough. There are ways of getting around it. They have a lot of bright people. I refer to the very small shops and shopkeepers. My local store, Castlecoote Stores, pays €500 a year for a wine licence, which is the same as Tesco, Dunnes, Lidl, Aldi and so on pay. That is not fair. The amount of wine sold in a small rural area is very low. It does not matter if alcohol is segregated, in which regard I note that the solution our Fianna Fáil spokespersons have come up is very practical. The licence fee for public houses is based on turnover. I accept that this is a matter for the Department of Finance and not the Minister, but he may not be aware that it costs €500 per year to stock and sell wine from a small, rural, privately-owed shop. I ask the Minister to bear that in mind.

Ultimately, it is clear that below-cost selling of alcohol is taking place. That is evident. This may prevent it. Certainly, the Minister's aspirations are worthy.