Mr. Paul Clancy:

I appreciate the time we have been given today. Fáilte Ireland surveys have repeatedly shown that the Irish traditional pub experience is really important in bringing tourists back. As was mentioned earlier, Irish pubs are copied all over the world but they are never equalled. We do not want to lose that. It is a fine ecosystem that we have.

We support the development of the night-time economy. We support the cultural amenity licence. We support the night permit, the club permit. However, we have real concern about the extinguishment element of it because we believe that puts the future livelihood of existing pubs at risk. Families have built pubs over three and four generations, and are integrated into the community. Let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Let us be very careful about what we do. What we have is very precious. It is part of what we are, it is why people come here and it allows people to recognise Irish society is back. We need to look at other forms of supporting that visitor experience in the night-time economy. I think the provisions of the Bill largely support that. It is not necessary to bring extinguishment into the discussion to deliver what the night-time economy needs for its next stage of development.