Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, lines 10 to 25, to delete all words from and including “(1) Where” in line 10 down to and including line 25 and substitute the following:“(1) Where a person who holds a relevant licence (in this section referred to as “the applicant”) duly gives notice of his or her intention to apply for a licence under this section in respect of a relevant premises and, at the proceedings in relation to the application, the applicant shows to the satisfaction of the Court that a relevant licence is in force in respect of the premises, the Court shall cause a certificate to be granted to the applicant entitling him or her to receive a licence in respect of the relevant premises (in this section referred to as a “producer’s retail licence”), unless the Court prohibits the issuing of the licence on the grounds of—

(a) the character, misconduct or unfitness of the applicant,

(b) the unfitness or inconvenience of the premises, or

(c) the unsuitability of the premises for the needs of persons residing in the neighbourhood.”.

We had much debate on this in committee. We were of the impression that a few things were going to be adjusted in the Bill because the majority agreed with them on Committee Stage. We notice the Government has not gone there just yet so we may argue again.

Amendment No. 1, page 3, lines 10 to 25, is, in a nutshell, trying to get rid of the tour. Truth be told, it is just about impossible to monitor it. The three amendments have been grouped but there is a substantial difference between them. Deputies Clare Daly and Alan Kelly have put forward essentially the same amendment in that they both make the distinction that the necessity of the guided tour should be only for consumption of alcohol on the premises and should not be necessary for off-sales. While I agree with that, if we are engaging in the making of good legislation, we should try to get rid of the tour altogether. I will explain why. As we discussed on Committee Stage, the way the Bill has been amended by the Department works in such a way as to set up a situation whereby small breweries will more than likely not qualify for the ability to give guided tours. On Committee Stage, I stated:

For an applicant to qualify for an off-sales licence, or off and on-sales licences, he or she must show that guided tours can be held on the premises and that the premises is suitable for guided tours in the first place. This automatically rules out a great number of the microbreweries in Ireland from qualifying for these licences. Many microbreweries are packed to the rafters with fermenters, pipework and brewing and packaging materials as many producers start out with small enough kits and, as they see increasing demand, purchase more fermentation and storage vessels until they have no more room to move in their workspaces. These breweries which are doing a lot in a small space, generally due to lack of investment and available funds to expand to bigger premises, are both precisely those who need the help this Bill could offer them financially and, because of the way in which the Government amendments are crafted, those who will not benefit from the Bill.

It is unfortunate that I have to repeat much of what was said on Committee Stage but it is necessary because the Department did not address the concerns we raised at the time and so I am forced to do so. On Committee Stage the majority rejected the idea of a tour for off-sales and agreed with the extension of the hours of the tasting rooms and off-sales to 7 p.m. as opposed to 6 p.m. in order that people could avail of the stated purpose of the legislation. For the life of me I do not understand why the Minister is not able to accept the change to 7 p.m. On Committee Stage a large majority voted in favour of 7 p.m. to avoid the situation whereby overcrowded and unsafe breweries working at capacity must qualify for the facility to give guided tours to have the ability to have off-sales, which is highly unlikely in the first place, and if their premises are deemed suitable for tours they must give a tour for every six-pack of beer sold at the door.

At the very least, all of Deputy Clare Daly's amendments must be accepted. My amendments go a little further and do away with the tour restriction altogether. The notion that someone who would call once a week for a six-pack of craft beer to a local brewery would have to do the tour every time is fairly irrational. Even the Ceann Comhairle agrees with that.

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