Results 2,721-2,740 of 6,389 for speaker:James Lawless

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I think the witnesses. On the comment on retail and bar workers, during Covid for the first time people were put in a potential conflict. People were asked whether they were wearing masks and so forth. We all understood that was necessary at the time. A particular dynamic was introduced to the equation. I was aware of many unpleasant incidents that arose during that period. The point is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: The workers’ rights question will probably go to Mandate. I want to broaden out the rest of the responses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I think it is either New Zealand or Australia that has a state-sponsored Hello Sunday Morning programme, for example, which encourages people and assists them in their sobriety journey. There are some initiatives here, but I am not sure that they have status of an authority. The RSA would be a good comparison. That is quite a useful suggestion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: We are talking about extending licensing hours and extending them across a variety of activities. However, we appear to be coupling these two things and I am not sure if this is in the legislation or the model or whether it is practice. We seem to be saying that to have a late hours theatre or late hours cinema or dance hall it must be inextricably linked to the provision of alcohol. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I will call Ms. Leonard and then will go to Dr. Reynolds. Even though we are on the seven minute mark, I want to allow members to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: It is good to keep the discussion going.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I will let Dr. Reynolds in on this briefly as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I am going to go to the next speaker and just to give an indication to the room, Senator Vincent P. Martin is next, followed by Senator Robbie Gallagher and Deputy Martin Kenny.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: I thank the Chairperson. His last question raised a very fair point. Senator Warfield made the same point earlier. We will take Dr. Gilheany first. If anyone else has something to say, I ask them to please catch my eye or raise their hand as we go on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: The Public Health (Alcohol) Act and the new legislation appear to be diverging and moving in different directions. There is a consistency issue there. Senator Gallagher is joining us online. He has been following proceedings from his office. I welcome him to the floor.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Thank you Senator. Who would like to respond?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Thank you. Deputy Martin Kenny is next.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: This is per annum.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Our final speaker for this engagement is Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. I will have a few questions of my own after that which I have been noting as we have gone along.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Thank you, Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: We have covered considerable ground, but there are a few items that may be of assistance. My first question is one I put, in a general sense, to the committee earlier. I think the Department of Justice has an adviser role to clarify any points. Much of the debate has been around the desirability of having cultural and socialising activities take place late at night, or at other hours...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Will you come back to us before we produce a report? That would be very valuable. Perhaps you will be able to take advice on it and come back to us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Is it permissible under the current regulations for a venue to open as a theatre, cultural or music venue and serve alcohol to a point and then stop or not serve alcohol at all? Is it proposed to change that with this Bill? That would be quite instructive, because it would give us a better perspective on whether the ask is from the night sector to perform late, or to perform late while...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: A commercial assumption is being made there that the sale of alcohol is necessary to fund the social or cultural activity in the venue. Is that right?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

James Lawless: Will people drink or partake in cultural activities?