Mr. Paul Clancy:

Touching on innovation, our members, particularly in rural pubs, have been very innovative in trying to encourage people into their pubs. We have seen since the pandemic and the reopening of the trade, particularly with hybrid working, that there has been a bounce back. Many pubs have transformed the service that they provide to encourage people back in. Remember, these are family-owned pubs. In many cases, they are third generation. They are built into their communities and provide a very important service from a cultural and social point of view. Our concern is with extinguishment and bringing in someone who is not familiar with the running of a pub in a rural area. Many pubs are holding on with their fingernails at the moment. They have come through Covid-19 and are trying to rebuild their business. Bringing a second pub into that environment right beside them will make that first pub, which is integrated into the community, unviable. It is a vital part of the tourism offering because of the special experience it has. We do not want to lose that cultural asset by allowing another pub in there beside it and possibly affecting the future of that viable pub that is trying to survive. If that happens, we could have rural villages with no pub whatsoever. That would be contrary to what the Minister is trying to achieve, which is to encourage more rural pubs to open.