Police to send "test" youths to pubs
DUBLIN | Tue Sep 21, 2010 2:11pm EDT
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland plans to allow police to send "test" youths to pubs from next month to check if landlords abide by laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol to those under 18, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said on Tuesday.
Faced with one of Europe's worst binge drinking cultures which usually starts in teenage years, police will be authorized from October 1 to get permission from parents to train and send young people aged 15-17 to licensed premises. If any alcohol is sold to the minors, the pub will be prosecuted and face fines or closure for a period.
"I want to stress that the objective of the scheme is to ascertain whether a licensee is complying with the law, not to trap an unwary licensee into committing an offence," Ahern said. "The test purchaser must answer all questions about their age truthfully," Ahern said in a statement launching the "Test Purchasing Alcohol Scheme." The tests will be canceled if the adolescents' safety is compromised in any way, he added.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely)
