Mr. Peter Mosley:

I will outline an example from my local village, Castlefin. Since one of the pubs reopened last year, the opportunities for paid employment for musicians have decreased by 50%. That gives an idea of where musicians are at and where the pubs are at.

When the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced pubs as community hubs, she said:

The local pub is part of the fabric of Rural Ireland. Traditionally down through the years, it’s where people in rural communities have come to meet with their friends and neighbours to socialise...

As part of ‘Our Rural Future’, I committed to developing a pilot scheme to support the use of rural pubs as community spaces and hubs for local services.

That shows the Minister for Rural and Community Development supporting the pubs and now the Department of Justice is potentially creating a way for community centres to become pubs.

On the one hand, one Department is helping the pubs to stay alive by becoming a more intrinsic part of the community. On the other side, there is the idea that community centres can take over the business from pubs and that is where we would have a concern. We believe that the term "function and cultural amenity" needs to be clearly defined within this legislation so they cannot threaten existing businesses.