Mr. Peter Mosley:

Independent Craft Brewers of Ireland represents the majority of operating Irish microbreweries and is one of a very limited number of trade organisations in Ireland that entirely represents the interests of genuine micro and small enterprises. ICBI members welcome many of the measures being proposed by this Bill, including the move to the District Court for licence applications; the abolition of the licence extinguishment requirement, which we believe leads to anti-competitiveness in the market; the standardisation and extension of opening times to include the removal of Sunday trading restrictions; and the abolition of discriminatory wine licensing, which favours wine over domestically produced beer.

It is our belief that the current licensing regime restricts competition and stifles innovation. The largest issue that Irish craft breweries face is developing a route to market, particularly as regards the pub trade, a problem that has been seriously exacerbated by the onset of Covid, leaving many small breweries struggling to survive. A significant deregulation of the current licensing laws would lead to increased competition, as the existing barriers to entry to this sector are based on the cost and availability of licences. The current stagnation in the licensed drinks trade contrasts with the excitement of Ireland’s vibrant food, café and wider hospitality sector.

There is and always will be a place for the traditional Irish pub, not least due to the association for the tourism sector and, most important, its roots in the community. However, as a modern society, we are changing and evolving. This includes the settings in which we may want to consume both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. ICBI members believe that the key to delivering on consumer demand is to open up the market to allow other non-traditional channels to proliferate. The proposed revised producer’s retail licence maintains the very restrictive opening hours and conditions in the existing licence. We would like to bring these hours in line with proposed off-licence hours for both on-premises and off-premises consumption, and to see the condition for ticketing and full tours removed.

Brewery and taprooms are a large part of the tourism sector in the UK, USA, Canada and beyond. Many small producers see visitors and sales from site as an essential part of their income and marketing strategy. We would also like to see an easier monitoring and enforcement policy of licensing in place for the Garda and local authorities and would welcome such measure as mandatory training schemes for all staff selling alcohol, similar to those existing in other countries, such as Australia and Canada.

Finally I will re-emphasise a few of the points from our submission to the committee. The proposed abolition of the extinguishment requirement should also apply to off licences. Checks and balances can be put in place in the granting but also possible revocation of a licence. Manufacturers of craft beer should be able to sell their product at their premises under the existing manufacturer's licence or proposed producer’s licence. At a minimum, this type of licence should extend to off-sales. Manufacturers of beer should also be able to easily extend their licence to occasional community events such as local food markets. We propose hours for any special producer’s licence be in line with other off-licence hours. The simplification and consolidation of the licence application process is welcome. However, we continue to advocate that court appearances should not necessarily be required to gain a licence. It is worth noting that the current process of application is unduly expensive, predominantly owing to the unnecessary requirement for legal representation and paid professional witnesses. However, we are hopeful that the requirements for these costly fees will be negated by the move to the District Court. On behalf of myself and my colleague Ms Elisabeth Ryan, as well as the wider craft brewing community, I express our thanks to the committee for inviting us to be a part of these proceedings.