Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I suppose if the Minister of State could talk about quad bikes it is all right to talk about Louth in the same motion.

This is a simple motion but an important one because it impacts on every community in the country. As the Minister of State outlined, it provides for the continuation of what we all agree is desirable and wanted across the country, that is, the ability to have outdoor dining and to sell alcohol - if one likes, to replicate what happens as the norm across virtually every village, town and city in Europe and indeed further afield. We have accommodated ourselves well to outdoor dining and it is having a hugely positive impact on all our communities. Streets that were full of cars are now full of people. As the Minister of State knows, we who are fortunate enough to live in the south east and who get the best of the weather that this country offers have availed of that with great gusto.

The motion is strongly supported and there is no difficulty with it. The difficulty is that this is the fifth time we have been asked, in essence, to extend a provision, which no matter what way you slice it and dice it, is no longer fit for purpose. As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows, I like to read Bills and their Long Titles, and I take my legislative duties seriously. This is a motion under the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021 and if one reads the Long Title of that Act, it is to:

make provision, on a temporary basis, for the sale or supply of intoxicating liquor in certain circumstances in seating areas located outside licensed premises in order to allow, in the public interest and having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health posed by the spread of the disease known as Covid-19, the businesses of licensees of such premises to operate in a manner that mitigates the spread of that disease.

That is what the Bill was about. I do not think that argument can be made. Whether there is potentially a legal challenge to the perennial extension of a provision that is anchored in such emergency and explicitly temporary provision is highly suspect. Under the 2021 Act, it is stated to be a temporary and emergency measure related to Covid-19, specifically because "the emergency that has arisen and continues is of such a character that for compelling reasons of public interest and for the common good, to assist and support the State’s efforts to promote and maintain the normal functioning of society, to protect the gradual reopening of society and, to the greatest extent possible, to avoid the imposition or re-imposition of restrictions thereon, it is necessary, in order to allow the businesses of licensees of licensed premises to operate in a manner that mitigates the spread of that disease". This is temporary emergency legislation that should no longer be applied. It is as simple as that. The Minister of State has come in and asked us to do it again. There are many justice provisions that we come in here annually to rubber-stamp with a promise that this is the last time we will do it. We really do need to ensure the commitment the Minister of State has given the House today is fulfilled, which is that the Minister of Justice will by February of next year produce the first phase of the new sale of alcohol Bill to deal with this issue for once and for all, and on a permanent basis.

I am not, and never have been, comfortable in stretching a provision to suit the exigencies of the situation. These are the sort of things that give barristers a field day, as the Minister of State knows, particularly in the area of intoxicating liquor legislation, which has always been a field day for barristers, and a lucrative field day for many of them. I do not think we in this House should be giving any vagueness or ambiguity with regard to legislative provisions that we enact. On that basis, with those caveats, the provision is absolutely necessary and on behalf of the Labour Party I am happy to support them. However, I genuinely hope that come February, we will have permanent legislation that is not anchored in legislation that is no longer pertinent.

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