A campaign should be launched to inform the public on how communities could challenge the renewal of licences for public house premises where alcohol had been sold to underaged persons, Mr Jim Glennon (FF) said.
Joining calls for a debate on the sale of alcohol to minors, Mr Glennon, a former rugby international, said he believed things had got totally out of hand. In one Dublin sports stadium there were more advertisements for alcohol around the pitch perimeter than there were in the average public house.
Mr Glennon said he welcomed the calls on both sides of the House for a debate on difficulties over enforcement of the law. But he believed that while they as legislators should debate the matter, there was also a responsibility on the community at large to deal with it, and particularly to avail of the annual licensing process on the sale of alcohol.
Mr Maurice Manning, Fine Gael leader in the House, said he was shocked at what he saw on virtually a daily basis in the universities - the extent to which almost every event was sponsored by drinks companies. The drinks industry seemed to have no conscience or scruples whatsoever about the way it made it easy for young people to get alcohol at an extremely cheap price, or very often for no charge at all.
The leader of the House, Mr Donie Cassidy, undertook to arrange for an early debate on the matter.