Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State told the House, this is the latest in a series of motions. One has passed through this House every six months since 2021. The purpose of the motion is not controversial - to allow for a continuation of the current outdoor seating and drinking regime. Some such regime of some order would and should be an ordinary part of our ordinary regulated life.

Until the Covid pandemic, outdoor drinking raised issues both under licensing legislation and planning law and the practice was that it was not widespread. These rules were relaxed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in what was stated to be a temporary and emergency response. Specifically, according to the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021, its purpose was 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...

According to the recitals set out in that Act, which is the base Act it is now proposed to extend

the emergency that has arisen and continues is of such a characteristic that for compelling reasons of public interest and for the common good, to assist and support the State's effort to promote and maintain the normal functioning of society, to protect the gradual reopening of society and, to the greatest extent possible, to avoid imposition or re-imposition of restrictions thereon, it is necessary, in order to allow businesses of licensees premises to operate in a manner that mitigates the spread of the disease...

The original exemption ended on 30 November 2021 and has been extended for six months by resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas ever since. With each resolution we debate, the Minister and these Houses are moving further and further away from reality. We cannot pretend that the basis of allowing this to happen is as I cited from the Bill. It is a fiction and to put it politely to the Minister of State, the claim that there is a public need for the continuation of these measures for outdoor drinking in order to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 is one which, if it were challenged in the courts, is not likely to stand, and we know how litigious this area of law is.

The legislation has clearly been abused by being extended, relying on public health as a justification of something we should be doing by way of normal law. In recent times, every time we have extended this resolution, we have had a promise - as we have again - that it will be dealt with by way of normal law. We need to get on with that. This long suspension of the ordinary rules has established and perpetuated certain problems, some of them serious. Some pubs in residential areas have fronts and rears that are not suitable for outdoor drinking. Some would never be given planning permission by the local authority if they were to go through the normal planning process. We need to deal with these issues as a matter of normal law and not say we have an Irish solution to an Irish question.

We have an emergency piece of legislation that works grand and we will just continue it until somebody calls foul.

As matters stand, if this resolution is passed and tested, it would be no surprise to anybody if the resolution fell. That would put the operators and everybody else in an invidious position. Even if it is a stand-alone measure, we need proper regulation of these things. These are matters that we talk about all the time.

I will not oppose or vote against this extension but we all know that having something anchored on the pandemic as a measure to mitigate the spread of a disease that is not regarded as a serious health risk now is not the basis by which we should be acting as legislators in this House. I do not want to be critical of the Minister of State but I hope in his concluding remarks he would address this issue and say this is the last time we are going to be doing this. If we do not have comprehensive legislation under the Intoxicating Liquor Act, then I hope some proper amending legislation as a stand-alone measure will be presented to us.

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