Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak on this issue as well. I appreciate the amendment the Minister is bringing forward to the CRSS scheme. We also dealt with a large number of amendments on Committee Stage. The original version of the Bill has been amended 80 or 90 times. I accept that most of the amendments are technical and we support them.

The issue here is of one substance. I appreciate the challenges when one is designing a scheme and that there will be people or businesses on either side of the lines that must be drawn when the criteria are being created. The large number of amendments that have been brought forward on Committee and Report Stages speak to the fact that the measure has had to be continually tweaked. Rightly so, as there is an issue here. I have been contacted by a key activist in Donegal, Brian Carr from Glenties, who spoke with members of the Licensed Vintners Association in Donegal today and relayed their concerns to me, which are similar to those outlined by Deputy Ó Laoghaire. Pubs that are considered gastropubs, that were serving food this time last year, are technically no longer restricted from opening because they have a kitchen and the ability to serve food. However, because food is a minor part of the overall business, the owners believe it is important for them to remain closed but by not opening, they cannot avail of the CRSS scheme. In some cases, the pub next door, which is closed, can avail of the CRSS scheme. That is the challenge here. I ask the Minister to take this issue on board.

I appreciate that when one draws lines, there will always be cases on either side of them. This is an important issue. One could argue that it forces a pub to open, serve food and allow people to access the premises. I am also mindful, for example, that if a public house that serves food can maintain a distance of 2 m or greater between tables, the time limit does not apply. However, it would be far more desirable to have a time limit. The changes to the regulations, which prevented pubs with a chipper outside the back door or the front door calling themselves gastropubs, were to ensure there was no exploitation of the measure. However, the other side of the coin is that some pubs fall into the category of gastropub because they have the ability to cook food, but food is only a very small part of the business. Such premises are able to open, but if they do not open they cannot avail of the CRSS because of the restriction. I am not sure how the issue can be addressed but it is one that needs to be considered and addressed.

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