Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 7, lines 23 to 25, to delete all words from and including “premises,” in line 23 down to and including line 25 and substitute the following: “premises, or

(c) the manager of the premises.”.

As I said on Second Stage, the amendment relates to the part of the Bill which defines the specified person whom a garda can hold accountable for a situation in a bar or outdoor space that is inappropriate and whom the garda can demand to stop people behaving in the way they are behaving, to disperse the crowd or the like. Basically, it is very loose as a "person for the time being in charge of the premises". That could happen to be one of the young people who have been referred to many times in the course of the debate, somebody who is simply there as a bartender or somebody who has taken over while, perhaps, the manager or the owner of the premises is away or at lunch. It is not appropriate that this person would be held to account in that way in the legislation. The Minister of State should deal with that issue and explain what the intention is there.

I know many of the young people who work in these premises. At different times they can find themselves left alone or left in a situation where something can go wrong. They are certainly not accountable. They are probably working for the minimum wage, or close to it, in these premises. It would be very remiss of the legislation to punish somebody in those circumstances. That is the reason we have put this small amendment forward. If the Minister of State can put forward an alternative way to deal with it, I would welcome it. In the meantime, we will be pressing the amendment.

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