Minister favours liberalisation of pub licences

The liberalisation of licensed premises would "take out the element of having to get a rural licence and bring it to Dublin", according to the Minister of State for Enterprise, Mr Tom Kitt.

He told the Dail he deplored the "irresponsible" manner in which some publicans behaved following the expiry of his drinks prices order. In some cases this had led to the price of mixers being raised from £1.10 to £1.80 and the cost of a pint had risen in some instances by between 12 and 15 pence.

"All sorts of interesting data is being made available to me but it is not yet complete. As soon as I have sufficient data, I will consult my ministerial colleagues and, in particular, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform."

The Minister told Labour's enterprise spokesman, Mr Pat Rabbitte, he was considering the reintroduction of a prices order and the further liberalisation of licensing, and he favoured liberalisation. Mr Rabbitte asked, however, why the Minister was "fluttering his wings" making such statements, when "the vintners know well that unless we are on course for an election in the next few months, the Minister of State has no intention of doing anything".

Mr Austin Deasy (Fine Gael, Waterford) referred to the cost of a pint in a "first-class pub" in his constituency of £1.90. But, he said, action was needed quickly because of the magnitude of the price increases in some establishments and before "the situation again gets out of control".

Mr Sean Barrett (Fine Gael, Dun Laoghaire) was concerned about the wide variety of charges for mixers ranging from 60 pence to £1.20. "Everybody is concentrating on the price of the pint, which is important, but the overall cost of mixers is incredible."

He was also concerned about the sale of licences in rural areas, where villages "are being denuded of what was formerly a form of community centre where people met for a drink and a chat".

The Minister shared Mr Barrett's concern "about the possible effect the extinction of licences would have on certain rural communities. We have seen a classic example of this which was mentioned on RTE recently. I would like to see proper liberalisation. In many ways it would take out the element of having to get a rural licence and bring it to Dublin."

He also pointed out that when the drinks prices order was in place the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs visited 2,671 premises to establish compliance and follow-up visits were made to 543 premises. Five premises were prosecuted for breaches of the order and further prosecutions are planned.