Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the UK Supreme Court decision yesterday on minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland. The court unanimously ruled that minimum pricing could be introduced. The Scottish Whisky Association, SWA, has now accepted the decision. If we are now going to have minimum pricing in Scotland the implication of the UK Supreme Court decision is that there is a need for both Northern Ireland and this jurisdiction to also introduce minimum pricing. It is important therefore that we put through the alcohol Bill at the earliest possible date so that we can set up the structures and that it would be a co-ordinated approach about introducing minimum pricing. It is interesting that the UK Supreme Court decision yesterday was unanimous. One of reasons why it progressed this whole issue - the Scottish Parliament Bill was originally published over five years ago - was that last year over 1,265 people died as a result of the consumption of alcohol. This is something we also need to progress.

There has been a lot of debate over the past week on homelessness. It is important that we have a clear picture of the challenges that face us. Particularly as we come into the Christmas period it is important that we do not ignore that issue. It is an issue that we need to deal with and it might be appropriate to set aside some time before Christmas for a debate to set out what is the strategy between now and the next six months.