The Minister emphasised two underlying principles when he introduced this Bill: (1) the abolition of the bona fide trade; and (2) uniformity in closing hours. I understood those principles were accepted unanimously. Tonight, there appears to be a tendency to drift away from those principles and to introduce extraneous matters. We are all anxious about the tourist industry. No tourist comes in here merely for the purpose of drinking. All tourists are anxious to fall in with our customs just as our people are anxious not to offend when they go abroad. Extending the hours during which people can drink will not entice tourists in here.
The word "drunkenness" has been used here. I have never liked that word. I would resent anybody accusing our people of having a tendency towards "drunkenness". I am very jealous of our good name. We should be very careful that that word is not bandied about unduly.
The fact that this Bill is here shows the necessity for controls in this country and our aims should be to see that these controls would be as effective as possible and at the same time that they would be the least irksome. A good deal has been said about disrespect for the law. It has been said that that disrespect has arisen out of the bona fide trade, out of the fact that a person can go three miles out into the country and drink all he wants while the person living next door to a public house dare not go in to it. That fact has made it impossible for Gardaí to enforce the law and it has made the people look on the law as a farce.
I am entirely with the Minister when he says that the bona fide traffic should be abolished. That traffic has given rise to abuses and these abuses are growing and will continue to grow with the advent of the motor car. What is wrong with having uniformity of closing hours? We should remember that in the Six Counties the closing hours on weekdays is 9 o'clock and there is no opening on Sundays. We talk about closer integration between the Six Counties and ourselves and I think we should be prepared to make some sacrifice here in order to conform to conditions there.
I am not advocating that we should close at 9 o'clock, but I say that the hour of 10.30 p.m. is late enough and that it should be the closing hour for the whole year round. There is not a licensed trader in rural Ireland today who would not gladly forego the extension which he is allowed on week-days to open on Sundays. Opening for a limited time, from 12.30 p.m. to 2 o'clock, and for a short time in the evening, would do away with a great many abuses. Drink becomes a habit, and if the people are to be curtailed in their drinking hours now, they will soon conform to the habit of earlier hours and will become accustomed to them.
The Minister at first said that he was not accepting these amendments and then he said that he had a certain sympathy with Deputy Russell's amendment. Later he said that he would not agree to any of the amendments. I have listened to the whole debate and I must say, with all due respect to the Minister, that a much more forceful case has been made for the amendments than was made for the Bill itself. The Minister said that all the old arguments had been trotted out and that nothing new had been said. The old arguments were trotted out because they are irrefutable, because they still have force and because there is no argument against them. They still hold good. The Minister's defence is that the Bill embodies the recommendations of the Liquor Commission, but we must remember that the Commission itself had divided views and that two members of the Commission signed the majority report against their own better judgment in the interests of compromise.
It is natural that there should be diverse views in this House. I appreciate the fact that our Leader told us that we were free to debate the Bill and to vote on it as we wished in accordance with our views and experience. That was an admirable permission to be given to us; it is a pity that it was not given all around so that we could get a true assessment of the views of this House and of the conviction of members with regard to the closing hours.
Deputy Burke said that I was a Puritan in this matter. It is nonsense to talk of Puritanism in regard to a trade that can carry on from 10.30 in the morning to 10.30 at night. I do not know what Deputy Burke meant because I have no personal interest in this matter at all. Mention has been made here of pressure groups and we all got letters from different organisations but nobody approached me about this Bill. I did get two letters from local Pioneer Associations after I had spoken on the Second Stage of the Bill but they did not affect me in any way.
If there are pressure groups operating here and if Deputies are being approached, I think it wrong that that should happen. The day that this House gives way to pressure groups is the day that democracy will fail in this Parliament. We should approach this matter according to our own convictions and our own experience in the matter. Life is changing very much in this country and certain conditions exist today that did not exist years ago. It is our youth about whom we are most anxious, particularly those who may have to go abroad. If they go abroad, having developed drinking habits here, it can be a disaster for them and a stain on the fair name of our country.
Deputy Corish mentioned the tendency there is for all our activities to drag on late into the night and I agree wholeheartedly on that. That fact is obvious having regard to the hours at which this House sits. I often wonder why it is that this House does not sit at 10.30 a.m. and work on for reasonable hours. At that time men's minds would be much fresher. There is the tendency that all our social activities drag on later and later into the night. If we are to have later opening hours, we shall find our social engagements going on longer and later to the detriment of our people. Anybody who has to sit up for late hours knows that his efficiency is impaired the following morning. We all know that from personal experience.
In Great Britain all dances are over at 12 o'clock and I cannot see why our people could not develop the habit of holding their dances earlier and finishing them at a reasonable hour. That would be all for the good of our social life and for the good of our young people. If you are to have extended hours, you will have to consider the young people going to dances at night. They will go into licenced premises and what condition they will be in when they reach the dance hall I hate to think. I dread what would happen.
Nobody has anything to fear from this Bill. I have asked people in Cork and its environs who take a few drinks each night and they all tell me that the hours are far too long and that 10.30 p.m. should be the latest hour for closing on weekdays throughout the year. I was very edified on hearing that. Even those who drink late at night maintain that the hours are too long, that if the temptation did not exist they would not drink late into the night and spend their substance which is needed in the home.
I suppose there will be a Traffic Control Bill introduced in the near future. There will probably be references to drink on the occasion of that Bill. To my knowledge and to the knowledge of Deputies from the south of Ireland, there were three cases of manslaughter in the courts there recently and in all three cases there was very glaring evidence that drink was involved.
It must be remembered that conditions here changed considerably in the last 30 years. What obtained 30 years ago would not do at all now because of the increased travelling facilities. Therefore, there should be insistence on respect for the licensing laws and the controls should be as effective as possible. That may cause a little annoyance for a short time but the amendments, if accepted, will prove very useful and effective and will redound to the credit of our people and our country.