Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister mentioned, the night-time economy and the night-time culture economy present huge opportunities. There has been an effort on her part, certainly in the early years of the Government, to make changes. I believe night-time economy unit has huge potential, and we have seen some examples of that. Yet, I do not believe that there is some degree of collaboration across the Departments that sit around the table. For example, the Department of housing has a huge role to play by looking at vacancies and how we can bring those back into action. I look around Dublin, our capital city, which all but closes down by 9 p.m., with the exception of pubs and nightclubs. It is welcome that the Minister has enhanced the nightclub sector, but it also needs support. The Department of enterprise does not seem to be featured in the unit, despite the fact that there is a huge opportunity here. In the months, or potentially weeks that are remaining, will we see any benefit from this task force? Will the night-time economy be enhanced? Will we see the city not closing down after 10 p.m.? This is why I asked specifically about an audit of facilities that open after 10 p.m.

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