Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are two matters I want to deal with today, the first of which is in relation to what Senator Burke was said about the alcohol legislation that was debated at great length in this House. Most of it was nonsense, to be honest. We have not yet put the unit price of alcohol in place and there will not be one unless there is an Assembly in Northern Ireland that will do the same on the Northern side of the Border, because it would have a devastating effect on off-licenses in the Border counties if there were to be a radical difference in the prices. That was nonsensical to start with. There is some evidence from Scotland where a recent survey has shown that it has had some effect on the consumption of alcohol by young people and people of limited means. However, with the greatest of respect, it was nonsense.

The second point I want to make about it is, as Senator Burke said, Guinness 0.0 is now being advertised all over the place, including on rugby pitches, on stands everywhere and on the shirts of athletes and the like. That is a massive loophole in the legislation. Non-alcoholic beverages that have the same title as alcoholic beverages can be advertised without any control at all. That was another piece of nonsense we walked into with our eyes wide open.

A third point is the placing of advertising hoardings. The Bill put forward by the anti-alcohol lobby went so far as to say that one could not have an advertising hoarding within 100 m of a crèche or a school, as if kids are going to be able to distinguish between Guinness 0.0 and Heineken full beer advertisements at the age of three. While our children are very intelligent, I do not believe that has made any difference.Every convenience store in Ireland is segregated by a saloon-style swinging door, with the drink cornered off. This has not had any effect whatsoever on sales, but we were told by the zealots that it had to be done. We should debate the alcohol legislation and whether it was effective.

We need a debate on the Garda Reserve. Nothing has happened. It is atrophying and its numbers are declining. A five-year strategy was published two years ago, none of which has been implemented. The Deputy Leader should invite the Minister for Justice to explain to the House what is going to be done with the Garda Reserve. On some other day, the Defence Forces should say what they are going to do about the Reserve Defence Force. The Government has allowed volunteerism to collapse.