Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It would have to be an area through which members of the public would not have to pass in order to gain access or make a purchase of products other than alcohol. Only alcohol or alcohol-related products would be sold therein and nothing else of significance. The choice is between that kind of regime or something akin to the tobacco cabinet, where everything is kept in a cabinet into which one cannot see or know what is therein but there could be a notice on it informing people there is alcohol behind the doors. That is the fundamental philosophy here.

I understand some Senators are driven by a very passionate view that alcohol is harmful in our society, a carcinogen, destructive of psychological well-being, socially destructive, a danger to an unborn foetus and a bad thing. Some of their passion has come across in this debate to the point that anybody who opposes anything in the Bill is a lobbyist with an agenda who should hardly be listened to and that it is the big battalions against the proponents of the Bill. I do not accept that outlook at all.

Alcohol is an integral part of our society and has been so for millennia. It is enjoyed by a great many people and makes our lives more enjoyable in many respects. It probably curtails our lifespan and we could all live to 120 and be in some nursing home with tubes sticking out of us if we stayed off alcohol but I do not accept the proposition coming from some quarters in this debate that alcohol is an evil that has to be suppressed, is analogous to tobacco and must be treated in an analogous way. That is an almost totalitarian view.

I remember the Ireland of 20, 30 or 40 years ago when the rural pub was the social hub of every community and people were not crawling out of it on their hands and knees in the evening but alcohol was part of what we were about. I do not accept that alcohol should be kept in a locked cabinet in any circumstance whatsoever. That is neither sensible nor reasonable. If I want to go into a Centra, a big shop or anywhere else, I do not see why I should not see a shelf with wine bottles. It is perfectly reasonable that I should be able to see a variety of alcohol in a shop that sells alcohol. No useful purpose would be served by such a measure in my local Centra in Roosky run by a family who do incredible work to keep the place going and offer a variety of food, warm food and so on as a service to their community. They work so hard to keep it going and I do not see why the small array of wine they have should be hidden. Their selection is not something for which the great connoisseurs such as Deputy Gerry Adams would pay €30 a bottle.