Vol. 543 No. 5
453 Mr. G. Reynolds asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the holder of a publican's licence who sold that licence would be entitled to purchase another licence and resume trading from the premises. [27786/01]
Section 18 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 2000 makes general provision for the granting of licences, subject to compliance with certain conditions, in respect of premises to which a full licence was never attached. In particular, the extinguishing of an existing licence in force in respect of other premises is required. On the granting of the new licence the Act provides that the existing licence shall be extinguished and the premises to which that licence was attached shall be deemed never to have been licensed. Normally, therefore, there would be no obstacle to applying for a licence in respect of a premises that had previously been licensed.
However, my attention has recently been drawn to a case where certain provisions in the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1960 do not apparently permit such a resumption of trading in the original premises because the licence in question was used for the purposes of a public bar in a hotel. I have asked my Department to review existing legislation with a view to addressing identified shortcomings of this nature in the context of future amending legislation in the area of liquor licensing.
Questions Nos. 454 to 457, inclusive, answered with Question No. 423.
