Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the recent annual report of the Garda Diversion Programme that teenagers came to the attention of the gardaí for public drunkenness more than any other offence last year; the steps he is taking to deal with the illegal sale of alcohol to those under age; the steps in particular that are planned to regulate so called home deliveries of alcohol; when he intends to implement the provision in the Intoxicating Liquor Act of 2002 providing the traceability of take away drink sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43010/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Annual Report on the Garda Diversion Programme for 2009 indicates that there was a reduction of 13% in the number of incidents referred to the Programme, and a reduction of 14% in the number of children referred to it, during that period. As regards alcohol-related offences, there was a reduction of 22% in the number of such offences compared with 2008. This suggests that the Government's approach to tackling alcohol-related offences, and associated anti-social behaviour, is proving effective and I want to congratulate the Gardaí for their work in this area.

The sale of alcohol products to underage persons is already prohibited under licensing law. It is an offence under section 31(2) of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988 for a license holder to sell or deliver, or permit another person to sell or deliver, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18 years. This applies equally to premises with off-licences, including supermarkets, convenience stores and similar outlets, and those with on-licences such as public houses. The penalties for selling or delivering alcohol products to under-18s, originally set out in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988, were substantially increased in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008. On conviction for a first offence, a mandatory closure order of between 2 and 7 days will be imposed together with a fine of up to €3,000. The penalties for a second, or subsequent, offence is a closure order of between 7 and 30 days and a fine of up to €5,000. In addition, the licensee is required to continue to pay staff for the duration of the closure period.

The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 also provided the Gardai with significant additional powers to address the problem of alcohol sales to underage persons. Section 14 contains provisions which allow a Garda who believes with reasonable cause that such a person possesses a bottle or other container containing intoxicating liquor which is being, or is intended to be, consumed by him or her to seize and remove the container.

Section 14 of the 2008 Act also makes provision for the test purchasing of alcohol products. The primary objective of the scheme, which entered into force on 1 October 2010, is to enable the Gardai to target those licensed premises which are suspected of engaging in illegal sales to young people. This scheme will provide them with an additional instrument in their overall enforcement programme.

As regards additional measures to combat home deliveries of alcohol products to underage persons, I have already announced my intention to make it an explicit offence in the forthcoming Sale of Alcohol Bill for a third party, e.g. courier or taxi, to deliver alcohol to an underage person. I am also considering the possibility of introducing a 'test delivery' scheme to complement the test purchasing scheme. It would cover both home deliveries to under 18s and deliveries to any person where, contrary to the law, payment for the alcohol product is accepted on delivery.

As regards the labelling of alcohol containers, section 22 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 already provides for the making of regulations to specify particulars to be displayed on containers which are adequate to enable the licensee and the licensed premises concerned to be identified. However during consultations between my Department and the Attorney General on implementation of section 22, the Attorney expressed serious doubts about the evidential value of possession of a labelled container by an under-18 year old. For example, the container might have been taken from the home by the underage person, or legally sold to a person over 18 years and passed on to the underage person. This has cast serious doubt on the benefits to be gained from any regulations that might be made under the 2003 Act.