Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will reply to a matter (details supplied) regarding the introduction of identifying stickers on cans and bottles. [21589/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Section 22 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 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 Office of the Attorney General on the implementation of section 22, the Attorney General's office 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 section 22.

Section 14 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 makes provision for the test purchasing of alcohol products, the primary objective of which is to enable An Garda Síochána to target those licensed premises which are suspected of engaging in illegal sales of alcohol to young people. The alcohol test purchasing scheme entered into force on 1 October 2010. I am informed by the Garda authorities that, up to 17 March, 2011, section 14 of the 2008 Act has been invoked in respect of 29 licensed premises.