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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 Jun 1960

Vol. 183 No. 4

Intoxicating Liquor Bill, 1959—from the Seanad.

The Dáil went into Committee to consider amendments from the Seanad.

I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 1:

SECTION 14.

Before the section the following section inserted:

(1) Where a person (in this section referred to as the applicant) duly gives notice of his intention to apply for a licence in respect of premises (in this section referred to as the new premises) to which no licence is attached and at the proceedings in the Court in relation to such application, the applicant shows to the satisfaction of the Court—

(a) that premises (in this section referred to as the original premises) were demolished not more than two years before the date on which the said notice by the applicant was served on the County Registrar or District Court Clerk, as the case may be, and

(b) that a licence was attached to the original premises when they were so demolished, and

(c) that at the time of the said hearing before the Court the new premises are lawfully occupied by the applicant and—

(i) that they are located on the site of the original premises, or

(ii) if they are not so located, that they are located, either, partly on that site or in the immediate vicinity and that the location of the new premises where they are rather than on the site of the original premises is unlikely of itself to have a materially adverse effect on the business carried on in any licensed premises in the neighbourhood, and

(d) that at the time of the said hearing before the Court the applicant is in lawful occupation of the site and any remains of the original premises or that he has procured the consent of the lawful occupier of such site and remains to the making of the application, and if the licence referred to in paragraph (b) of this subsection is then subsisting, to the extinguishing thereof if and when a licence is granted pursuant to this section, and

(e) that the new premises are more suitable than the original premises for the business of selling intoxicating liquor,

the Court shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Act of 1902, cause such certificate as is mentioned in section 5 of the Licensing (Ireland) Act, 1833, to be given to the applicant declaring him to be duly entitled to receive a licence in respect of the new premises, unless the Court, in consequence of an objection made under section 4 of that Act, prohibits under that section the issuing of such licence on one or more of the following grounds, that is to say, the character, misconduct, or unfitness of the applicant or the unfitness of the new premises.

(2) Where, in a case to which the foregoing subsection of this section applies, the certificate referred to in that subsection is given to the applicant, the following provisions shall apply and have effect, that is to say:—

(a) the licence (in this subsection referred to as the new licence) to which the applicant is declared by the said certificate to be entitled and which is granted to him in pursuance of that certificate shall be a licence of the same character in all respects (including conditions inserted therein) as the licence (in this subsection referred to as the old licence) which was attached to the original premises when they were so demolished;

(b) nothing in the Act of 1902 shall operate to prevent the grant of the new licence to the applicant;

(c) upon the grant of the new licence, the old licence (if then subsisting) shall be extinguished;

(d) any conviction which became recorded on the old licence under section 25 of the Act of 1927 at a time (if any) when the applicant was the holder of the licence and which, either, is still recorded thereon or would, but for the expiry of that licence, be still recorded thereon at the time of the grant of the new licence by the Revenue Commissioners shall be deemed to be recorded on the new licence under that section and to have been so recorded on the date when it became recorded on the old licence;

(e) upon the grant of the new licence, the original premises shall, for the purposes of the Act of 1902, be deemed never to have been licensed.

(3) Where, before the demolition of the original premises, an application in relation to the new premises or (if the new premises have not been constructed) the proposed new premises is made to the Court under section 14 of this Act, the original premises shall be deemed, for the purposes of that section, but not otherwise, to have been demolished, but an application under section 16 of this Act in respect of the new premises shall not be granted unless the Court (being otherwise satisfied, having regard to the provisions of that section, to grant the application) is satisfied that the original premises have been demolished.

The existing law—Section 22 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1943—allows a new licence to be granted for premises in the immediate vicinity of premises that have been burnt down or accidentally destroyed. The purpose of this amendment is to make a similar provision in respect of premises that are deliberately pulled down—where the licensee builds a better premises on the same site or nearby.

Question put and agreed to.

I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 2:—

SECTION 25.

In page 17, subsection (2) deleted and the following subsection substituted:—

"(2) Subsection (1) of section 22 (which relates to the grant of new licences in respect of premises substituted for destroyed premises) of the Act of 1943 is hereby amended by:—

(a) the substitution in paragraph (a) of ‘two years' for ‘twelve months', and

(b) the insertion in paragraph (c) after ‘remains thereof' of ‘or that he has procured the consent of the lawful occupier of such premises or of the site and remains thereof to the making of the application, and if the licence referred to in paragraph (b) of this subsection is then subsisting, to the extinguishing thereof if and when a licence is granted pursuant to this section'."

This follows from amendment No. 1.

Question put and agreed to.

I move that the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 3:

SECTION 36.

In page 22, the following paragraph added to subsection (2):

"(b) Where the holder of a licence is convicted after the passing of this Act of an offence to which Part III of the Act of 1927 applies and which was committed before such passing, the conviction shall not be recorded on the licence under section 25 of the Act of 1927 and such holder shall for the purposes of the said subsection (2) and the said subsection (4) be deemed never to have been so convicted."

The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that any conviction which may take place after the Bill becomes law in respect of an offence committed before the Bill becomes law will not come under the new provisions relating to compulsory endorsement.

I should mention that it is unnecessary to make a similar amendment in relation to the provisions for minimum penalties on the customers since, under the Interpretation Act, 1937, that provision will not apply to offences committed before the Bill is law. Amendment No. 3 arises out of the fact that some of the district justices were adjourning cases to the 30th September, and of course we wanted to cover these people.

Question put and agreed to.
Amendments reported and agreed to.
Ordered: That a message be sent to the Seanad accordingly.
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