Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to open today's debate and move the motion on the general principles of the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill, which was introduced to the National Assembly last October. We've been working on this particular Bill for a number of years. We first consulted on a minimum pricing for alcohol in 2014 as part of the public health White Paper before the last election. As the Deputy Minister for Health, I published a draft Bill on minimum unit pricing. I would like to thank my ministerial colleagues Mark Drakeford and Rebecca Evans for their work in helping to shape this piece of landmark public health legislation. 

I'm grateful to members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, the Finance Committee and the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee for their scrutiny of the Bill. I won't attempt to address each of the recommendations in the time we have this afternoon, but the Government will consider each of them carefully as we move towards Stage 2. In particular, I will listen carefully to what people have to say today, because it may well affect my response and the Government's response to the recommendations. I'll also make clear that I'll publish a response to the recommendations before Easter recess, so that Members can see those before we are too far into Stage 2, should the Assembly proceed in any event. 

It should be no surprise that we'll vote against the UKIP amendment. We believe that this Bill will have a positive outcome on reducing hazardous and harmful drinking, and the associated harm that that causes to communities across Wales. This is not a Bill that seeks to punish drinkers by making alcohol punitively expensive. This Bill takes a sensible and targeted approach to a very real and evident problem in Wales today. Like so many others western countries, we have a problem with cheap, strong and readily available alcohol.

The impact of alcohol-related harm makes for difficult reading. In 2015-16 alone, there were 54,000 hospital admissions attributable to alcohol here in Wales. Those admissions were estimated to cost the NHS £120 million a year. In 2016, 504 people died because of alcohol, and every one of those deaths was preventable. This Bill is about helping to reduce those harms, but it is not the panacea or a magic silver bullet to all of the challenges. It is one more way that we will have of tackling and preventing alcohol-related harm. 

There is significant evidence from around the world on the relationship between the price of alcohol and alcohol consumption. We also know there is a strong relationship between the amount someone drinks and the harm that they experience. People who drink hazardous and harmful levels of alcohol are also much more likely to consume cheaper alcohol. So, despite the UK Government's ban on below duty plus value added tax sales of alcohol, we continue to see alcohol sold for pocket-money prices. Some drinks cost less than a bottle of water. 

We see the effects of harmful drinking every day in our NHS, in our workplaces, in our communities and in our families. We believe that introducing a minimum unit price will reduce the harms associated with hazardous and harmful drinking and further strengthen our existing harm-reduction measures. There are a number of issues that will require further consideration, and I'm grateful to the committees for highlighting those during their scrutiny of the Bill.

One of these relates to the potential impact of a minimum unit price on dependent drinkers, as highlighted by the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. Dependent drinkers will be affected by the introduction of a minimum unit price. They are among the hazardous and harmful groups of drinkers this Bill specifically targets. And I recognise some concerns that dependent drinkers may not be able to reduce their levels of consumption without help or, alternatively, if they reduce drinking it may tip them into withdrawal.