Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A very serious issue is raised, though, because the night-time industry has been closed for 18 months. Nightclubs have not been open. I refer to the licensing fee legislation and the fact that so many late bars and nightclubs now have to pay for special exemption licences after the difficulties they have been through. Because they have to pay for them in advance, I do not think it is unreasonable to ask that there be at least a moratorium on these, if not their complete abolition, in the context of the Government's plan to open up nightlife. I ask, as we move to 22 October and the next phase of reopening, that real regard be given to the nightclub and nightlife sector.