A short Intoxicating Liquor Bill will be introduced within weeks to deal with urgent issues including under-age drinking, the reduction of opening hours, drunkenness and disorderly conduct on licensed premises, according to the Minister for Justice.
Other measures, such as legislating for a new type of licence for small cafe-style pubs, imposing a statutory limit on the size of licensed premises and granting a role to local authorities in allowing special exemptions, will be part of a longer Bill later which will also consolidate existing licensing law.
Mr McDowell was speaking at the launch yesterday of the fourth and final report of the Commission on Liquor Licensing. This dealt with licensing, trading hours, the sale of alcohol in guest-houses, clubs and restaurants, alcohol and children and young people, and the powers of the District Court in licensing matters.
Mr McDowell welcomed the commission's proposal that promotional practices which encourage binge-drinking among young people should be penalised and agreed that gardaí should object to the renewal of licences in such cases. Such practices include a cover charge which allows customers to drink at a discount or to drink all they want.
Mr McDowell said he also wanted to end the situation where a young person between 15 and 18 could be on a licensed premises until it closed. This made the enforcement of the law on under- age drinking more difficult, he said, adding that he had no objection to young people joining their parents for a sandwich in a pub.
He also welcomed proposals for a mandatory age-card, which would have to be carried by those between 18 and 25 who wished to buy alcohol. Stressing the need to introduce a short Intoxicating Liquor Bill quickly, he said: "There is a linkage between the existing state of the law and under-age drinking. It is important different departments work together on this. Education, health, transport and finance all have a role."
Welcoming the commission's proposal to allow the issuing of licences to small premises, similar to continental café-bars, without the need to buy or extinguish an existing licence, he said: "You should be able to go for a cup of coffee and a croissant with someone who wants a glass of beer."
However, the Licensed Vintners Federation, which represents publicans outside Dublin, expressed concern that this would lead to a proliferation of licences in a country that is already "over-pubbed."
The chairman of the commission, Mr Gordon Holmes, said that enforcement of even the existing law was a problem. There were huge discrepancies in the number of prosecutions for after-hours and under-age drinking.
He said it was an anomoly that gardaí on drug-law enforcement duty could be in plain clothes, while those dealing with enforcing the licensing laws had to be in uniform; the commission has proposed this be changed. It is also proposed to change Thursday closing time to 11.30 pm.
The report has been criticised by the children's charity, Bernardos, which has been running a campaign on the impact of alcohol on families and children.
"This report does not go nearly far enough in recognising the responsibility of the drinks industry for our current problems nor for changing behaviour," its chief executive, Mr Owen Keenan, said.
It has also been criticised by the National Youth Council of Ireland, which said the new type of pub licence would increase the availability of alcohol. If alternatives to the pub were being looked at, then adequate funding should be given to youth work services rather than cutting it, the council said.
The Labour Party's spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello, cited the Minister's failure to act on previous recommendations.
Commission on Liquor Licensing: Main points
- An updated National Alcohol Strategy with realistic and measurable objectives.
- Introduction, for a specific fee to the State, of a non-transferable licence for owner- occupiers in areas of need, available only to new entrants and for premises not exceeding 130 sq metres.
- Bringing closing time on Thursdays back to 11.30 p.m.
- No entertainment during drinking-up time.
- District Courts to give special exemptions only where there is no real risk of public nuisance or disorder and where local authorities' views are taken into account.
- Allowing the sale of alcohol in off-licences on Sunday mornings.
- Tightening up the regulations for off- licence and distance sale of alcohol.
- Allowing non-members to drink in clubs, while tightening up the regulations governing their sale of alcohol.
- Allowing registered guest-houses to sell alcohol to residents.
- Introducing a two-tier restaurant licence, allowing for a wine-only licence and a licence for beer and spirits and allowing restaurants to sell alcohol before and after meals.
- Prohibiting promotional practices which encourage binge-drinking.
- Various measures in schools and the community to discourage under-age and binge-drinking, including limiting the number of hours worked by young people.
- Allowing publicans to exclude 15-18-year- olds from pubs, or to limit hours they can be present.
- Allowing the District Court to order that a premises be closed for a period if it is subject to a complaint about nuisance.
- Rates relief for public houses in rural areas with limited turnover.