James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to ask about the proposed section 21(3) of the sale of the alcohol Bill 2022, which deals with the issues that are facing publicans in this country around the value of their licences. I am hearing repeatedly from publicans in my own area, particularly those I met recently in Mitchelstown in north Cork, about the huge concerns within the Vintners Federation of Ireland and within this trade about the future value of their licences. Unfortunately, the proposed changes will have huge impacts on family publicans and the Government needs to look at this issue to see if there is a fairer way of protecting the value of licences. As it currently stands, if one wants to buy a licence, one has to be extinguished as a consequence. The deregulation will impact this and could cost family-run pubs this country hundreds of thousands of euros. There has been a significant decline in valuations over the past 15 years and it is something we must protect for rural Ireland.

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