Seanad debates

Thursday, 19 June 2003

Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2003: Committee Stage.

 

Although section 4 imposes a liability on licensees not to permit drunkenness on their premises, that is again designed to strengthen their hand. It means that a person behind the bar can tell a patron that if he or she serves another drink, he or she will not be able to keep his or her pub open. He or she would be able to tell the patron that if a garda saw him or her in his or her drunken state, he or she stands to have his or her pub closed for a day, or whatever. In those circumstances, these provisions also strengthen the hand of lounge staff and the employer when he or she tells the staff that if they serve drunk people when, or to the point they are drunk, it is a serious matter to be dealt with seriously by the licensee as an employer. This will strengthen the hand of young lounge staff when confronted with a patron they consider to be in trouble. They can say they may lose their job if they get another drink. If we talk about 10 shillings under the 1872 Act, there will be no teeth in the law at all. This effective provision is intended to give the law teeth.

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