Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

The Minister is welcome back to the House. I have no problem with these amendments which effectively tidy up the legislation. We discussed at length the issue of children being present on licensed premises and I favoured the Minister's original proposal of a limit of 8 p.m. after which children would have to vacate the premises. However, having listened and spoken to others who had strong views on this issue, especially those in the tourism industry, I concede that the 9 p.m. limit will facilitate people who wish to partake of a meal with their children in a restaurant or bar where food is served. I hope this resolves the problem people had with the original proposal. Apart from that, I have no problem with the amendments and thank the Minister for bringing them forward.