Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Cribben to the committee and thank Mr. Mulholland for his presentation. Mr. Mulholland referred in his opening remarks to the many similarities between the UK and Irish pub trade, particularly the rural pub sector, although I am not too familiar with rural UK. I am sure the witnesses are aware that the laws in relation to drink driving and so on have been tightened up over the past number of years. Perhaps they would comment on how this has impacted on the UK trade in terms, in particular, of whether rural taxis or designated driver schemes have been introduced. I am sure that as in the case of rural Ireland, this has had an impact on rural areas in the UK.

It was mentioned that the cut in beer duty has had the impact of increasing sales. Is that reflected across all regions of the UK or is there a correlation between the improvements and the economy in particular regionsvis-à-visother areas? Has that analysis been undertaken? Is there a genuine correlation between the reduction in duty and the increase in sales?