Publicans are not obliged to serve adults accompanied by their children in all circumstances, the Office of the Director of Equality Investigations said yesterday.
It issued the clarification following newspaper reports that it had ruled to the contrary in a case taken under the Equal Status legislation by a visually impaired man against a Dublin pub.
The visually impaired man, Mr John Maughan, claimed he had been refused service in The Glimmer Man public house on grounds of his family status, his disability and his membership of the Traveller community.
His case was that he entered the pub accompanied by his visually impaired wife, his guide dog and his 13-year-old son. The barman told him he could not serve him because the pub had a "no children" policy. Mr Maughan claimed he sent his son home but was subsequently refused service because he had a dog with him and because he was a Traveller.
The owner of the pub, Mr William Fortune, claimed the man was served when his child left the pub but the child returned.
The equality officer found the pub discriminated against Mr Maughan on the basis of his family status.
"Although there are strong moral and social arguments why parents should not bring children under 18 years old into pubs with them, I consider that under current legislation parents are entitled to bring their children into licensed premises with them if they wish.
However, my findings on this point should not be interpreted as meaning that publicans must serve parents when accompanied by their children under 18 years old in all circumstances. This is because the Licensing Acts require publicans to run orderly houses and to ensure that under-18-year-olds do not consume alcohol on their premises."
The Glimmer Man was ordered to pay Mr Maughan £2,000 compensation for embarrassment and stress.