480. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the number of times she, or officials from her Department, have met with officials from the Department of Health in relation to the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022; and the dates these meetings took place. [36184/24]

Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice: The General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol intends to modernise our existing licensing laws in line with the expectations and needs of today’s society, and to encourage the development of a modern and diverse night-time economy.

The proposed legislation endeavours to strike a balance between maintaining strict controls and safeguards in relation to the sale of alcohol, while providing support to those involved in our night time economy.

Given the known social and health effects associated with misuse of alcohol, Ireland has, for many decades, operated a restrictive regime for licencing. The General Scheme of the bill retains that approach and will ensure that the sale of alcohol remains closely regulated.

A public consultation, including an online survey and a request for submissions, ran from November 2021 until January 2022. More than 5,000 responses were received.

These included responses from Alcohol Action Ireland; Ballymun Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force; The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland; The Health Service Executive Alcohol Programme; Institute of Public Health; Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network and National Suicide Research Foundation. Department officials also met with Alcohol Action Ireland in January 2023 to discuss the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022.

On the 24 January 2023 and 31 January 2023, the Joint Committee on Justice held Pre-Legislative Scrutiny for the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022. The Committee held a public engagement with stakeholders, including Alcohol Action Ireland, Institute of Public Health and Irish Community Action on Alcohol Network. The Committee also invited submissions from these bodies on the General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022.

My Department engaged with the Department of Health via the formal consultation process on all memoranda to Government concerning the Sale of Alcohol Bill. My Department will continue to engage with the Department of Health on the matter.