Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What shocked me about the contribution on "Morning Ireland", and perhaps I should not be shocked, was that the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland was railing against the proposals to label alcohol as a cancer-causing product. I drink, so I am not coming here with a holier-than-thou attitude. The facts of the matter are that alcohol causes mouth, throat, voice box, oesophagus, breast, liver, bowel and pancreatic cancer. It is a cause of death and serious illness to people across the country. The concerns of this organisation, which is busy in here lobbying the big parties in particular, are that the Bill is going to cost the producers money. It is shocking to see that this organisation could come in day after day. To be fair, I recognise that the Minister for Health is doing his best in this circumstance. I am glad that the Seanad did not give way on this. We need a debate on the level of lobbying by big business across both Chambers.