I wish to refer to an organisation called the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland. I heard a representative of this organisation on "Morning Ireland" on Monday railing once again against the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. By coincidence, as I was coming into the Chamber today, I saw its representatives busy lobbying. Perhaps I am showing my own naivety but I am surprised by the amount of lobbying by the various arms of IBEC that goes on here every day. I wonder if the public actually realises just how intrusive big business is in terms of public policy.

They do not.

What shocked me about the contribution on "Morning Ireland", and perhaps I should not be shocked, was that the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland was railing against the proposals to label alcohol as a cancer-causing product. I drink, so I am not coming here with a holier-than-thou attitude. The facts of the matter are that alcohol causes mouth, throat, voice box, oesophagus, breast, liver, bowel and pancreatic cancer. It is a cause of death and serious illness to people across the country. The concerns of this organisation, which is busy in here lobbying the big parties in particular, are that the Bill is going to cost the producers money. It is shocking to see that this organisation could come in day after day. To be fair, I recognise that the Minister for Health is doing his best in this circumstance. I am glad that the Seanad did not give way on this. We need a debate on the level of lobbying by big business across both Chambers.

Hear, hear.

I want to put on the record my own absolute disgust at the activities of big alcohol and the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland. They are not even pretending to care about people's health. All they care about is their profits and the costs to their producers. The cost to the health of the people of our country clearly does not register at all. I call for that debate.