Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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247. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the recent ruling by the Scottish Supreme Court in favour of the legality of the Scottish Government's plans to introduce minimum alcohol pricing; his views on the implications of this judgement from an Irish perspective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23441/13]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I welcome this decision and it is positive for our own proposals for a minimum unit pricing policy.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that real and tangible proposals are currently being finalised on foot of the recommendations in the National Substance Misuse Strategy report. These proposals cover all of the areas mentioned in the report, including legislation on minimum unit pricing which is about setting a statutory floor price per gram of alcohol.

The Cabinet Committee on Social Policy has considered these proposals and I intend to bring forward specific proposals for consideration by Government as soon as possible.

In the meantime, work on developing a framework for the necessary Department of Health legislation is continuing. For example, in conjunction with Northern Ireland, a health impact assessment is being commissioned as part of the process of developing a legislative basis for minimum unit pricing. The health impact assessment will study the impact of different minimum prices on a range of areas such as health, crime and likely economic impact.