Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The aim of this Act is to extend and facilitate the continued opening of outdoor seating areas for pubs and restaurants, a measure that was introduced during Covid. It would give pubs and clubs clarity in planning for the season ahead in the context of outdoor seating and their customers and staff. We could see during Covid how important these outdoor areas were. The Minister of State is aware of the awards Limerick won with in respect of its outside areas. There are fantastic facilities within those areas. Why can we not get a permanent solution? Many people had outdoor areas during Covid and these have proven very successful. People were conscious of their surroundings and where they were going. Also, the those who provided these outside areas had to look at a future plan of how long they would be there, whether they would be allowed into the future and the risks involved.

I support what is proposed, but we need a long-term plan not only for the pub and restaurant sectors but also for all others sectors. We need to show what outdoor areas will be permanently exempted from the planning laws. Structures were erected during Covid, and many of them won awards for their diversity in helping people outdoors.

A worrying aspect is that we must protect people and staff. In case there are any alterations within those areas, we have to look at the role of the Garda. How do we introduce the Garda into this? Some 800 gardaí have promised, but only 23 graduated recently. Some 284 gardaí retired, were off sick or off duty due to disciplinary matters. Some 87 gardaí resigned. We must consider that because the Garda protects our counties. The budget contained an allocation in respect of the 800 gardaí to whom I refer. Where is that money? Will the funding be increased for next year? Where has the money that was allocated gone? Garda management has asked gardaí to work a week of seven days or six days on and take two days off. The rota is wrong. How do we encourage gardaí back into our areas in order that we can facilitate people being in outdoor areas and longer opening hours?

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