Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to be able to speak to this Bill today. As Deputy O'Sullivan has said, I also am surprised at the speed with which the Bill came thorough and the amount of time allowed for it. I am a huge supporter of the rural pubs, country pubs and Irish pubs in general. Their names are recognised all over the world. They give employment and they pay wages, rates and taxes. Pubs are a huge business and they are a vital part of the fabric of urban and rural Ireland.

I agree there are huge issues around the abuse of alcohol in Ireland. Other speakers have mentioned the effects of binge drinking and alcohol or drug abuse such as child neglect, damage to health and cost to the State. I am aware that under various Acts, we had St. Patrick's Day, Christmas Day and Good Friday as days when alcohol sales were banned on licensed premises. Our patron saint's day was taken out of the legislation sometime in the 1960s to allow for drink on that day.

Over-drinking has, however, become a huge problem. I have been in the United States of America for three St. Patrick's Days, in Washington and New York. People are not allowed onto the streets with a beer, be it in plastic glasses or anything else. They celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a big way - almost more so that we do - with decorum and respect. In Ireland, unfortunately in recent years the celebration has taken a bad turn with over-drinking, as Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan has already said. I will not be as graphic as that but it has caused a lot of strain and other issues. There were riots on St. Patrick's Day in Dublin not so long ago and legislation was passed to deal with that type of situation. It was not to do with alcohol; people came to visit from another jurisdiction to try to make their point and there was friction.

I am concerned. A lot of publicans have contacted me because they want the ban to remain. It is two days in the year - dhá lá. It is two days' holidays. One of the days is not even really a holiday because they are so busy on Christmas Eve, right up to midnight, and then they are open again on St. Stephen's Day. They must physically clean the pub and have it ready for the next day so Christmas Day is not a holiday for publicans and it offers no break. Good Friday used to be a black day for different denominations. I am aware that some people have had a kick at the Catholic Church again and at other denominations. Some of the religious orders do not drink at all and that is their right. We do not need to be kicking them as the reason why we have to change it. There is no need to have a bash at the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is not interfering with this, good, bad or indifferent. Deputy Michael Collins referred to the church allowing schools to open during church holy days, which I have issues with because the holy days are just in name now.

However, that is what happened. The Catholic Church is the patron of many schools and some people cannot wait to take that patronage away from it. However, when it was running the schools, we did not have half the costs and those schools were run very efficiently.

I cannot support the proposal at this time. The Minister of State is well aware that we need to look at so many other areas relating to alcohol and supporting those in the Vintners Federation of Ireland, rural and urban, to sustain themselves so that they are able to provide a service and run a proper house. These are public houses and there are laws, rules and regulations. They have to be run perfectly, be clean and meet certain standards regarding food. They have to meet all the health and safety and hazard analysis and critical control point, HACCP, requirements, and rightly so. There is a huge legal onus on them to have properly run establishments and to comply with the opening and closing times, etc., relating to licensed premises.

In the context of the disappearance of public houses, during the summer I brought the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, on a small tour during which we saw seven or eight pubs within a radius of approximately 20 miles. I have named them before: the Silver Sands, The Lady Gregory, The Cosy Kitchen, The Foot Bar, the Caravansary and the Glen Hotel, which is located in the scenic Glen of Aherlow. They are all dúnta. They are shuttered up and falling down. They will be derelict buildings soon and that will be another issue for the local authorities to tackle. Across then to the lovely Bansha, from where Louise Morrissey hails, to see O'Heney's bar, lounge and restaurant. It is all locked up - dúnta - gathering cobwebs and becoming an eyesore for the wonderful Tidy Towns committee.

We have to engage in a huge examination of the pub culture and drinking culture. Since the price has been so high, below-cost selling in supermarkets has been a disaster. We used to have a Fair of Cahir but it had to be discontinued last year because of the sale of drink to underage persons by certain unscrupulous off-licences. There was no control of it. There are many areas that need examination and a lot of moneys are wasted.

I differ from Deputy Michael Collins who, I note, has a vested interest - he declared it - but I think we need to sit down around the table and examine this because publicans have told me they want their day's rest. They need to upgrade their pubs on Good Friday, to paint them or do some renovating. They cannot do this on any other day apart from Christmas Day. One cannot get a tradesman to work on Christmas Day, thankfully, because they get one day off as well. Good Friday is the only day. One might call it a lá saor but it is not. It is a day they have a breather to try to run it. The restaurants get around it in any event. Tourists will not avoid Ireland because the pubs are closed on Good Friday. They love Ireland, the land of saints and scholars, and they are not going to avoid it because they cannot get a pint of beer on Good Friday.

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