Results 821-840 of 1,981 for speaker:Conor Lenihan

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I am purely informing the House that I am not a lawyer unlike Senators Alex White and Eugene Regan. The Government is relying on the professional advice offered by the Attorney General's office through the Parliamentary Counsel at its disposal that such a clause is not required. Unlike Senators Alex White and Regan, I am not a genius in many different disciplines. I do not believe I am in...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I am acting on legal advice. I cannot add anything. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand," put and declared carried.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I am not bored at all. I am intrigued.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I compliment Senator Regan for coming up with this amendment. While I appreciate the reasons behind this amendment, the Department would need some time to discuss its implications with the Garda Commissioner. The Garda has already moved towards this idea in operational terms. Recommendation 31 of the advisory group on alcohol suggests that there should be a garda assigned to licensing...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I appreciate the intention of Senator Norris's amendment. Section 7 deals with applications for new off-licences and subsection (3) gives the Garda and local residents the opportunity to object on any ground set out in subsection (1) to the granting of the required District Court certificate. These grounds include that an off-licence would be unsuitable for the area or that there are...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I assume this amendment was intended to propose that structural separation would be implemented by means of regulations tabled by the Minister following consultation with relevant interests and that any such regulations would require the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas before entering into force. This is not what the amendment proposes. By not proposing the repeal of lines 14 to...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I cannot accept these amendments, which seek an exemption from structural separation requirements for special tobacconists. The only special tobacconist with which I am familiar is J. J. Fox Limited, opposite Trinity College. The first difficulty is that the proposed new section, despite its length, does not contain a definition as to what constitutes a specialist tobacconist. Although it...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: Apart from the absence of any criteria to distinguish specialist outlets from non-specialist ones, another problem arises. While the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has general responsibility for the licensing laws, he or she has no direct involvement in granting of licences or the application of those laws. These are matters for the courts and the Garda. It would not be...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: Before the general election, Senator Regan's party leader was very keen to invoke the Judeo-Christian tradition as one of the bases for the development of Irish life and society in the future. It puzzles me that Fine Gael seems to have departed from the notion of Sunday being sacred or, in a sense, being different even if one does not have a religious belief——

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I am not keen nor is the Government——

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: ——on extending the period within which opening can occur to 2.30 a.m. We cannot accede to that amendment. We also have a problem with Senator Bacik's suggestion that we give a two-hour supplement to special exemption orders. Again, it goes back to the philosophical standpoint of this Bill. We are not in favour of extending hours generally. When the Oireachtas Joint Committee on...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: This would create another unmanageable loophole and another series of unmanageable later openings which we do not need.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I thank Senator Regan for tabling this amendment. I reiterate the point that the Minister has indicated his intention to provide in the autumn a licensing permit system for nightclubs. The detail of the proposal, which contains some good ideas, could be incorporated into that legislation. It is important to state that the Government cannot accept amendments that would have the effect of...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: The current situation in England and Wales provides a salutary lesson to those who would liberalise the licensing laws in the hope of reducing anti-social behaviour and public disorder on the streets. In late 2005, when longer opening hours were introduced in the UK, British Ministers argued that the aim of this was to reduce the disorder caused when everyone emerged from licensed premises...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: I do not want to get in the way of Senators or other people having a good time. I am not a frequent visitor to nightclubs due to my age and lifestyle.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: However, I did go to a nightclub recently in the company of some young models who enticed me to go. It was a well-known nightclub here in Dublin. One thing that struck me was that there was not much dancing going on but there was a lot of drinking.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: There is a profound lesson for all of us here. Much drinking is done in Irish nightclubs and not much dancing.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: The dancing area is generally quite small compared to the area in which people are drinking.

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: It is also important to remember that many people in Ireland go out drinking not just to have a good time but to get drunk. This is the difference between the continental environment for alcohol and the environment in Britain and Ireland. Senator White tried to suggest that the example I cited from Britain is neutral but it is anything but. The view of the British Home Office on this is...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2008)

Conor Lenihan: If the Senator sees it as his business in politics not to achieve and to allow unacceptable levels of alcohol abuse and late night violence——