Margaret Ritchie, Minister for Social Development on alcohol abuse

Thank you Mr Speaker.

I’m grateful to Sue Ramsey and Jennifer McCann for providing the Assembly with the opportunity to discuss this very important topic and also to the proposer of the amendment.

I know this motion had originally been intended for the Minister for Health who has responsibility for the strategies to tackle drug and alcohol abuse. However, with Minister McGimpsey’s absence, and the inventiveness of the Business Committee, I am delighted to respond to the motion and to welcome the amendment.

I understand that the Ministerial Sub-committee on Children and Young People will be meeting next week to discuss their key priorities for the coming months.

If this motion is agreed by the Assembly, I will be happy to bring it forward to the sub-committee for discussion.

The scourge of alcohol abuse is one of the most pressing problems facing us as a society today. Read the newspapers any day, watch television any evening, take a walk round your town or city centre any weekend, to see the most obvious effects.  

It can also lead to a number of social problems which, while less immediately obvious, are certainly no less serious. These can include damaged health, shortened life-expectancy, depression, domestic violence, perhaps even a criminal conviction.

Alcohol abuse is not confined to Northern Ireland.  We have the dubious distinction of sharing with our neighbours in the South and in Great Britain some of the highest per capita rates of alcohol consumption in the world – along with all the damaging consequences this can bring.  

It is not confined to any community and it is not confined to any age group.  It seems to be endemic to these islands and it is on the increase.

It is no surprise that many of our young people reflect this culture in their own behaviour.  They are doing what young people everywhere have done since time began - learning from their elders, absorbing the good with the bad, rebelling against restrictions and using their initiative to get around them.  

The dilemma is clear.  As a society we are to a great extent trying to control underage drinking – alcohol abuse by the young – by saying to them “Do as we say! Don’t do as we do!” So it is hardly surprising that many young people drink to excess.

The point I am making is that – while any serious attempt to tackle alcohol abuse must include legislation – such legislation is not an answer on its own. It must also range more widely, into areas such as parenting, health, education, child protection, community safety, and above all, enforcement.  

As it happens, the motion today is addressed to me by virtue of my responsibility for licensing legislation. However, the motion relates to the responsibilities of many of my Executive colleagues and the Secretary of State, who has final responsibility for enforcement.

I am therefore very pleased to note the Ulster Unionist amendment which recognises cross-departmental responsibilities.

For my own part, I can assure the Assembly that policy development on liquor licensing legislation will reflect the spirit of the amendment and will not take place in isolation.  Any reform of the law will take account of the responsibilities of Executive colleagues and the practicalities of the real world in which the law must operate.      

I have stated that I intend to take time to consider all the issues arising from my predecessor David Hanson’s review of liquor licensing, which includes issues to do with underage drinking, and to take the Social Development Committee’s views and those of my Executive colleagues before making decisions on the way forward.  That remains my position.  

While I do not necessarily endorse - or reject - David Hanson’s proposals I do recognise that his Review was comprehensive and thorough and that the methodology employed, involving a partnership approach, research, wide consultation and a Health & Social Impact Assessment, was robust.  It therefore provides, I believe, a useful information base from which to proceed.

The Review looked at liquor licensing in the round, drawing on expertise from my Department, the DHSSPS Drug & Alcohol Strategy Team, the PSNI, the NI Courts Service and the NIO Community Safety Branch, representing the key areas - health, public order and public safety.   

Its findings were based on evidence from many studies in the UK & Ireland, as well as international studies and local discussions.  

However, the evidence is not always clear-cut and I believe we need to be cautious about applying the results directly to Northern Ireland. Many of the findings apply to both underage and adult drinking but I would draw Members’ attention to some which are particularly relevant to underage drinking.  

Briefly, evidence suggests that lowering the age when people can drink on licensed premises can reduce the likelihood of them drinking in unsupervised, unsafe locations.  However, there is also evidence that lowering the age can increase levels of male juvenile crime.  Alternatively, raising it can reduce alcohol-related car crashes and fatalities.  

Better training for staff involved in the sale of alcohol, particularly where this is backed by management, reinforced and used to enforce legislation, is seen as helping to prevent and deal with crime and disorder, including underage drinking.

High profile policing and enforcement of the law on underage drinking has been linked to reduced numbers of crimes and arrests.  Proof of age schemes were perceived to be valuable and evidence also suggested that prohibiting drinking in public places helped reduce crime and disorder.  

More recent European research, from 2006, endorses many of these findings and adds to them.    

I will carefully consider all these findings, along with other information, in formulating proposals on the way forward in relation to alcohol abuse and underage drinking.  

I am, furthermore, examining possible options for stricter enforcement of the law, currently a matter for the police, Northern Ireland Office and NI Courts Service.   

Among these are penalty points for offences, the most serious of which would include underage sales.

I have already given my support to criminal justice legislation on new, more effective drinking-in-public provisions.  This Order also gives police the power to carry out test purchasing in Northern Ireland, allowing them to work alongside under-18s to test whether premises are selling or supplying alcohol to underage customers.  

I am also happy to support Challenge 21, the joint trade and Electoral Office initiative to encourage licensees to demand robust proof-of-age from customers who look under 21.

Turning to the recommendation in the motion that “clear and identifiable marking of carrier bags provided by off-licences” should be introduced as a means of combating underage sales.

I note that the Ad Hoc Committee, which examined the drinking-in-public provisions in the recent draft Criminal Justice Order, recommended that my Department, along with the PSNI, should consider the feasibility of schemes used elsewhere for tracking sales of alcohol to minors.  

In my response to the Minister of State, who wrote to me about the full range of drinking-in-public provisions, I indicated that my officials had examined the issue in the context of my predecessor’s review of liquor licensing; and that I was currently considering the way forward in respect of liquor licensing generally and would ensure that the topic was revisited in that context.  

Members today may be interested, however, to note some pertinent facts.  First, most supermarkets and local off-licence chains already supply branded carrier bags.  

This means that the likely targets of such a move would be the smaller, standalone off-licences, which are declining in number.  

Much activity takes place to promote voluntary codes of conduct for bars, clubs and off-licences in the Belfast area.  Initial discussion with some of those involved indicates that there is a general feeling that branding bags would be not be as effective as ongoing initiatives designed to make pubs and off-licences more aware of their responsibilities.

Wider research has so far failed to identify use of a similar provision elsewhere.  It has also failed to identify evidence to support the effectiveness of introducing such a provision in Northern Ireland.  

I am aware that the Republic’s Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003 provided for the responsible Minister there to have power to make regulations for “particulars, to be affixed to any container in which intoxicating liquor is sold for consumption off licensed premises, which are adequate to enable the licensee and licensed premises concerned to be identified.” Contravention of the regulations was to be punishable by a fine of up to 2,000 Euro.  

In the event, the regulations were not made since they were adjudged to constitute a breach of European Union Regulations. This was on the grounds that it would be necessary in most instances, for reasons of equity, to have the container marked at source i.e. before delivery to the licensed retail outlet, and that this would place an unacceptable burden on the product suppliers.  

My officials are exploring the possibility that similar considerations might be a factor in proposals to mark carrier bags.   They will also consider whether there may be issues relating to rules of evidence in courts.

I would welcome any further information Members may wish to provide on the issue.

In conclusion, I would say that, since taking office, I have carefully considered the range of complex issues, competing agendas and conflicting opinions which dominate the alcohol and licensing debate.  I have studied the available evidence, taken views from the major stakeholders and noted recent developments in Great Britain and elsewhere – including the review of the England & Wales Licensing Act 2003 and the provisions of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.   

I value links between my Department and counterparts in the South and am keen to explore the potential for greater co-operation with them, particularly in the area of liquor licensing, where our legislative codes with their pre-partition roots, aim to address common historic and current issues and concerns.  

I have therefore scheduled a meeting with my counterpart Minister Brian Lenihan to discuss our shared interests and in particular the findings of the Advisory Group on Alcohol which reported to him at the end of March and his wider plans for comprehensive legislative reform.  

I have asked my officials to explore various policy options and obtain further information to enable me to better formulate proposals to take to the Social Development Committee for their views.

I am committed to maximising the contribution which liquor licensing legislation, in conjunction with other initiatives, can make to tackling underage alcohol abuse and I would welcome the cross party support of the Assembly for this work. Progress is well advanced and I hope to bring proposals to the Social Development Committee in the Summer.

On a final point may I say Mr Speaker, our young people frequently receive a bad press, particularly in relation to alcohol. I do not believe for an instant that these negative images reflect the full, true picture of our young people.

There is an Irish proverb which says “Praise youth and it will flourish.”  I subscribe to that philosophy but I believe that we must not only praise but protect when needed.

Thank you Mr Speaker.