Sting catches one third of pubs and off-licences selling drink to children

ONE third of pubs and off-licences targeted in undercover purchase operations were caught selling alcohol to children.

The outlets face prosecution and possible closure orders and/or fines.

The crackdown began in October 2010 after the Government brought in a scheme enabling gardaí to use children in undercover operations.

The first set of figures on the scheme, supplied to the Irish Examiner, show that 119 premises were targeted up to October 2011 — and offences were detected in 41 of them.

A Garda spokesman said details were not available on the number of prosecutions so far. He said investigations may be ongoing or the DPP may not have made decisions yet.

As reported in the Irish Examiner on Saturday, Justice Minister Alan Shatter is reviewing the operation of the scheme and is considering extending it to home deliveries operated by off-licences and supermarkets.

Mr Shatter’s predecessor, Dermot Ahern, brought in the test purchase scheme in late September 2010, over two years after laws setting up the scheme were introduced in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008.

However, due to legal issues and child protection concerns, detailed consultations had to be conducted with other agencies, including the Department of Health, the office of the Minister for Children and the Office of Tobacco Control, which is involved in cigarette test purchases.

The Garda scheme involves sending a person aged between 15 and 18 to a licensed premises, acting under the instruction of gardaí.

A number of safeguards are written into the scheme, including the written consent from a parent or guardian, as well as measures to avoid harm to the child.