A new Intoxicating Liquor Bill designed to liberalise the licensing laws will be drafted immediately and will be enacted early next year, the Minister for Justice has confirmed.
Mr John O'Donoghue said yesterday he had received Government approval to draft the Bill.
As expected, the Bill will extend pub opening hours, particularly at weekends and during the winter. It will strengthen the laws on under-age drinking and will also involve significant rationalisation of the licensing system.
However, a more radical reform of the licensing laws will be put on hold while a new commission on licensing investigates additional changes.
The Bill will abolish the distinction between summer and winter trading, allowing licensed premises and registered clubs to open from 10.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays all year round, with an additional 30 minutes of "drinking-up time".
Normal opening times on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 a.m. all year round, with half an hour of drinking-up time. Sunday hours will be extended by the abolition of the so-called "holy hour" between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The restrictions on the granting of a special exemption for any time on a Sunday will be removed by the Act, and the obligation to provide a meal as part of the condition for a special exemption will also be abolished.
The requirement on those who wish to establish a pub in a rural area to purchase two licences and the prohibition on the granting of a licence within one mile of existing licensed premises will be abolished.
In urban areas, the requirement to extinguish a licence and prove a population increase in the area will also be removed. However, the circuit court will have reference to "the adequacy of the existing number of licensed premises in the vicinity of the proposed new premises".
Mr O'Donoghue said: "The removal of these anachronistic restrictions on entry to the licensed trade will create a significant number of new licensed premises in areas of greatest need."
A commission on licensing will review the scope for a system of additional licences.
A publican will face "very severe penalties" for serving alcohol to a minor, under the new Bill.
The Vintners Federation of Ireland welcomed the proposed reforms.
