Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I concur with all the comments that have been made. I congratulate my colleagues in Young Fine Gael who took on this campaign two years ago and have brought it to a stage where the Bill will be passed in the Seanad. If there was ever a prime example of what young people can do and how they can make changes in our country, this is it. It is an achievement be able to take on an issue like that and drive it with the help of our Deputy Leader, Senator Doherty, whom I also congratulate for taking it on and making sure that it got to the floor of the Seanad. I thank the Minister for her co-operation in seeing the Bill passed here today and I look forward to seeing it swiftly brought into the Dáil. A number of years ago, we discussed the possibility of introducing plastic lids and making them available in nightclubs in response to spiking. I engaged with the Licensed Vintners Association and the Vintners Federation of Ireland on the matter. Perhaps Young Fine Gael will issue the report to both of those organisations because I think there is something that they can do. I know that we now have legislation for offenders, but we need to take more preventative measures. I will give an example. If I go to the canteen today, I can get a lid for a hot drink so that I do not burn my mouth, but if I go to a nightclub, I cannot get a lid. Lids that can be put on drinks should be made available to make them safe for people in a nightclub or wherever it may be. Maybe we can keep the campaign going. I ask that the report and the studies we got from the universities are issued to both of the drinks organisations that represent both the nightclub owners and the bars. We must look at making sure that nearly every nightclub has at least something like that as a preventative measure, so that any person going into a nightclub will be able to put a cover or a lid on their drink to make it safer.