Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy and Senator for their comments. Deputy Higgins is correct when she refers to places being used that one would never have thought would be and referenced two bars in Lucan. It helps them and also improves the experience for people. It makes them more accessible in many instances and uses space that was not used before. The Department with responsibility for enterprise worked with my own Department and, as members have seen, a lot of parklets were put in through Covid.

To be honest, some of them could be improved on in terms of how they look, but their retention should be considered and I encourage local authorities to do that rather than deciding to remove them now that the pandemic is over. Frankly, we can do with fewer car parking paces and we will have to do that - to change how we do things - if we are serious about the active travel piece, which we are as a Government and an Oireachtas. I do not want spaces that have been used more productively being given back over to cars. I encourage local authorities to consider how best they can make permanent the measures that were taken through Covid. They should do so through the proper processes and with the aim of improving our public realms throughout.

Senator Seery Kearney mentioned enforcement, which is really important. A local authority can withdraw a licence if the holder does not adhere to the conditions of the licence. Local authorities need the resources to do so and we will provide them where they have insufficient resources. I have seen the proliferation of coffee bars and vans and things like that. They served a great purpose right through Covid. There is a coffee bar at St. Sylvester's, my local Gaelic games club. It is run by a couple of lads who are doing a great job. They are getting an income and the business is licensed. No one would have thought of that before. I could pick 100 such businesses. I take the Senator's point in respect of unlicensed operators who may be competing against ratepayers. That is something we have to balance. I take that point completely. That is the reason for licensing and the fact that carrying out a commercial enterprise in a particular area, for example, requires planning permission.

People's outlook on how they shop, dine, get a cup of coffee and go out and about has been really positive through Covid and we want to harness that. What I want to do with this one small measure, added to a lot of others, is to make it easier for people to do their business outdoors and to be able to walk or cycle to places safely, park their bike and have a cup of coffee or tea. I am grateful for the support of the committee in this regard. As I stated, I will certainly take members' comments on board. We have an opportunity now to harness the good things in the context of how we managed our public spaces through Covid and make them more permanent.