Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

It is a cornerstone of intoxicating liquor law, as I understand it, that the authority of the licensee is vested in his or her staff at any given stage and that he or she is liable for their actions as though they were him or her, if acting within the scope of their employment. For instance, if that was not the case, most of the law would be inoperable simply by virtue of the licensee being able to say he or she was in Majorca at the time and could not have committed any offence.