Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 2a:

In page 4, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

" "Court" means the District Court and in relation to any application to the Court means the District Court for the court area in which the premises to which the application relates is situated;".

This amendment makes a technical definition of the word "Court". The amendment is designed to introduce and deal with night club permits. It is designed to deal with a situation which has arisen through the provisions of the Bill which seek to harmonise or provide a common closing time for premises with special exemptions, including theatres and night clubs. As a result we have non-sequential exiting from late night drinking premises. This, essentially, tells mature adults that they should not be out late after 2.30 a.m. or 3 a.m. and tells them when it is time to drink up and go home.

This amendment is designed to introduce a provision to regularise this situation. On the question of theatres and night clubs, the measure proposed in the Bill is crude in the extreme. It affects the entire industry, has social implications and was adopted in a manner that will not achieve the primary objective of the legislation, namely, to address the public order issue. We know and the Garda has confirmed that where there is common exiting from late night drinking premises, public order issues arise.

Amendment No. 12a provides for a specific licence for night clubs. The conditions of the licence allow the business to operate between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., provide that an admission price would be charged at a designated cash desk, subsequent to passing a security desk and prior to entering into the premises and that there would be a specific percentage of floor area, 20%, for dancing. The dancing space provision is designed to ensure that it is a genuine night club establishment and place of entertainment. Public liability insurance is also required and there must be two security persons on the front door.

Another provision is that no clients are admitted to the premises after 2.30 a.m. This provision is designed to prevent those exiting pubs from then streaming into night clubs and would contribute to sequential exiting of people from late night drinking establishments. The conditions under which a court may grant a licence, the conditions attaching to the licence and the offences giving rise to a breach of a night club permit are set out in the amendment.

This is a reasonable and correct approach to take with regard to regulating the sector. The primary purpose of the legislation is to avoid public order issues that cause huge difficulties arising late at night and early in the morning. We all concur with the basic objective of the Bill, which is to deal with the public order situation and underage drinking, etc. However, with regard to late night drinking and clubs, we have arrived at the nanny state and at telling mature adults when they should drink up and go home. This is not appropriate in the 21st century and does not address the social issues the Bill attempts to address. I urge the Minister of State to give serious consideration to my amendment.