Mr. Noel Anderson:

We would appreciate the support of Deputy Mattie McGrath and the committee as a whole on a particular issue. I would like to circle back, if I may. I am here to represent publicans in Dublin as well as those in the rest of the country that have been closed for 372 days. They have not traded for one day. I ask for the committee's support in breaking down the divide between food-led pubs and traditional pubs. That cannot continue. I cannot describe how soul destroying it is for a publican to see a pub 15 yds up the road open because it serves burgers or chicken wings while his or her premises remains shut. Every publican should be on the same level playing field. Garda powers are in place now and it would be completely unjust, 15 months on, to continue with the divide. I am here to represent those publicans.