asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider reducing the fee for wine licences in respect of guesthouses.
Written Answers. - Guesthouses Wine Licences.
160.
In order to be granted a wine licence a person must already hold a refreshment house licence. As part of a general revision of licence duties, the Finance Act, 1980 increased to £50 both the wine and the refreshment house licence duties, the levels of which had become seriously outdated.
Following representations from the trade, my predecessor concluded that the combined imposition of £100 for the refreshment house and wine licences should be reduced in order to assist the smaller guesthouse owners and restaurant operators. The 1981 Finance Act provided accordingly for the reduction of the refreshment house licence from £50 to £10. I consider that this relief goes a reasonable distance towards meeting the interests of guesthouse owners and I do not contemplate further duty reductions in this connection.