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DOES THIS Government have any coherent policies at all? Last year, with great hullabaloo, it passed the Intoxicating Liquor Act that was designed to protect society from the malign effects of alcohol abuse. We have the worst incidence of underage binge drinking within the EU. And adults tend to behave in an equally irresponsible fashion. There is no denying the seriousness of the problem. But when it came to applying the provisions of the 2008 Act, involving the sale of cheap alcohol through supermarkets and mixed retail stores, the Government caved in to pressure.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern attended a function organised by supermarkets and multiples during the week at which he welcomed their production of a voluntary code of conduct that will require them to display alcohol in separate areas of their premises. It was represented as a reasonable development, rather than a capitulation to powerful commercial interests. The Minister even undertook to enshrine the voluntary code in law, if it was found to work in a survey funded by the same companies.