Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the direction and control of An Garda Síochána as well as for operational matters such as that referred to. As Minister, I have no direct role in that matter.

As the Deputy will appreciate, under the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988, the holder of a licence shall not sell or deliver, or permit any person to sell or deliver, intoxicating liquor to persons under 18 years of age.

Test purchasing is governed by section 37C of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988, which came into operation in October 2010.It involves a person who is at least 15 but under the age of 18 years, acting on the instruction of a member of the Garda Síochána, entering into a licensed premises for the purpose of purchasing alcohol. The objective of test purchasing is to identify if a licensee is complying with statutory provisions regarding the sale of alcohol to underage persons and, if not, to obtain evidence for possible legal proceedings. The Act sets out the basis on which licensed premises will be selected for test purchasing and contains a number of safeguards for the test purchaser including a requirement for parental consent or consent of his/her guardian.

I am informed by Garda management that test purchasing of intoxicating liquor is intended to form only one part of the overall Garda Síochána programme for enforcing licensing law provisions relating to persons under the age of 18 years of age. I am further informed by Garda management that decisions concerning specific enforcement policies and actions will necessarily reflect local needs and priorities.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that a search of Pulse was carried out and that no such text purchased are recorded as having been conducted in Donegal in the period referred to by the Deputy.The following table, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of test purchases recorded as having been carried out on a national level during the same period.

Test Purchasing of intoxicating Liquor nationally