Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As with the previous speakers, I welcome this Bill and I commend Deputy Kelly on putting it forward. This group has through the years ploughed a furrow when many people would not have taken notice of them. They had to go without much funding or backing and they did not have the media coverage that many drinks companies have. They had to try to spread the word on the basis of the few pounds they made. It is incredible to hear the stories of where their craft beers are being sold, even as far away as Russia. I commend them and yesterday I listened to the stories of ordinary people going out to set up a business and taking a risk; they now employ more people.

In fairness to the previous Government, it was said by the people in the craft brewing industry that they got a break they needed, which made a difference and meant they could invest back into the businesses. This was not a political point but they praised what was good. They saw the stumbling blocks to bringing in more revenue.

Deputy Kelly spoke about the craft brewers and distilleries.

I never knew until yesterday that there were people making wine in Ireland. In Dublin, there is a winery. It is good to see people doing such work and employing people in areas where one might not have seen a lot of tourists because one or two jobs in a rural part of the country make a huge difference to people. In breweries such as Black Donkey in Ballinlough, Galway Hooker and those in the different small towns around the country, I note their enthusiasm for getting their name out there and driving it forward.

This Bill provides an opportunity to help everyone in a town. It is not alone that it may help the brewers so that they could give a tour of their premises. The reality is that these brewers do not have the money to be buying licences and all that goes with it. Maybe the big brewers, who can have 1.8 million visitors a year, can afford that but it would be so important if these get only a fraction of those visitors, as was stated earlier on, to come in, be able to buy what they are producing and sit down and have a taste of it. It is not a threat to publicans because it is clearly stated that it would be over at 6 p.m. There would be a knock-on effect on the town or village concerned. Some of this enterprise is in villages. There are not populations of 10,000 in a lot of the towns I know of where these are operating. Maybe a small place could set up cooking food and the visitors will probably go into the local pub. These are the economic benefits one brings to areas that may get more people working.

There was another side yesterday that I was fascinated with - one learns as one listens to people. They spoke about the different types of malting barley that can be grown in different parts of the country, be it Carlow, Cork, Wexford, Galway or Roscommon, and the different tastes of it. It was said that some of the bodies that we have in place to do research were not overly interested in it. I said we should get colleges involved because I learned yesterday that there is one country in the world that can produce a malting barley for which you can get up to €1,200 a tonne. If we could crack that nut for our farmers - maybe we would have to mix different varieties - not alone the breweries but the farming community here would do well. The more one can diversify into different areas, to put it simply, the less people who will be trying to eat out of the one trough. That opportunity is there. I encourage the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, to get colleges involved or help those brewers. It is sad to see, if we are pumping money into certain organisations or groups in this country, that they are not bothering their I-will-not-say-what to research all of these matters. Every way that we can put people working or making people's lives better in different parts of the country is so important and at the end of the day, it generates more revenue for the Government and results in fewer out of work.

Also, it is good to see today for the first time ever in the new politics the two Tipperary Deputies are agreeing. Both of them are backing it. Around the House, it is good to see that a bit of commonsense prevails. When one sees something good, one should go and back it. One should forget about the political side to it. These are ordinary people out there who, like any person who sets up a business, take the risk. They have to go in and borrow a few euro. Sometimes when one goes in and tells them that one is thinking about brewing one's own beer, they could look at you twice. Funnily enough, the banking system thinks that there might be only one or two big players in the market because it was commercialised, but these are like artists. They are unique. They try everything. A few months ago I attended a brewery launch and it was my first taste of it. In fairness, it was well done. There are different varieties. There are so many different brewers all over the country full of enthusiasm for what they are at. I noted the love of their work. Every incentive should be given to them.

They were adamant that politicians make sure of one thing. It was made clear by Government previously that it did not want the breaks that they got to be used for the wrong reasons, such as to drop prices. They were told to put it back into their businesses and they adhered to it. In fairness to them, as I heard earlier, one does not want disorderly behaviour or whatever. It is my opinion - I have not met everyone but I have met many of them, in fairness, through Deputy Kelly - that they are people with a vision of where they are going, with a love of what they are doing and who will create more employment and will definitely bring more revenue in for the country and especially to the parts of Ireland that have been harder hit than most and where jobs are so important.

I welcome the Bill. I congratulate Deputy Kelly on bringing it in. I hope it is not undermined in Committee with too many amendments to it. I note there is a good amendment about assurances for those making whiskey. This is another side of it. Irish whiskey, at one time, was all over the world. We had a name for it. The more we can do for that, and even the wine makers which was a new development we learned of yesterday, the better. We should ensure that all of these people get the incentives. If we could bring 1 million of those 1.8 million down the country, it would be good for rural areas and for creating a lot of jobs.

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