Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am extremely concerned about the future of pubs, particularly rural pubs, and the part they play in the community in addressing isolation and social exclusion.

Burdens are being put on rural pubs, which have almost been forgotten about, in terms of trying to meet all the overheads. Mr. Cribben cited rates, the cost of which for pubs that do not have a high turnover is deplorable because they are based on the square footage of the premises. I cannot see how pubs in rural Ireland will survive. If we were to do a survey of publicans across rural Ireland, we would find that most of them want to get out of the game. These pubs play a huge role, not just in serving drinks to people. It is the social inclusion aspect that concerns me. That is why the members of this committee should give a commitment to do everything we can to address the rising and unexplained costs across the board, not only in terms of insurance but also other costs such as television licensing and so on. This committee will continue to work with the witnesses and the recommendations in the reports from both organisations are robust and should be implemented immediately.