Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Nov 1983

Vol. 345 No. 9

Intoxicating Liquor (National Concert Hall) Bill, 1983: Second Stage (Resumed) and Subsequent Stages.

Question again proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time".

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Mr. Nealon)

I will not detain the House very long. Before the Adjournment I was making the point that the intoxicating liquor aspect of this Bill belongs to my colleague, the Minister of State, and I was speaking in order to advance the cause of the National Concert Hall for which this licence is being provided. It would not do to give the impression that we were advocating the value of drink as such, but there are certain times when drink in moderation can complement an evening. Deputy Kelly drew on the authority of, as he said, a great Irishman, Myles na gCopalleen, to augment him in making that statement. I can now draw on the authority of Myles na gCopalleen and Deputy Kelly for that idea. Certainly there are very few places more appropriate than the NCH. The bars are there at the moment. You can drink in the outer one in the foyer which is dedicated to the memory of John Count McCormack with a permanent display there of memorabilia of this great tenor. If you prefer to be more discreet and go to the inner foyer you can drink in the John Field Room, dedicated last year on the bicentennial of that great Irish composer. They are very amenable surroundings.

The time constraint laid down in the Bill as outlined by the Minister of State, that is 30 minutes before the commencement of a function to one hour after the ending of the function, is a guarantee in all respects. The NCH is a relatively new centre of which we can all be proud. The management, the National Concert Hall Company, have done an excellent job, as was pointed out earlier in the debate, not least in the manner in which they have attracted people to that new prestige centre — 75 per cent occupancy of seats in any such centre is a very notable achievement considering that on occasions very frequently because of its very nature some of the presentations there cater for a minority interest. The board are to be congratulated on that achievement.

Another idea that has surfaced to a certain extent is the sponsorship of various events by commercial firms. I am very keen on this. The inability to realise their potential through the lack of funds has been a tragedy of many excellent groups and bodies in the artistic field. By their definition Government funds, particularly at this time, are limited while artistic efforts worthy of support are foundering and the allocation of available resources is extremely difficult. I am glad that commercial interests are going into sponsorship. I have seen a number of them recently in the NCH which is an ideal venue for such sponsorship.

The National Concert Hall Company, their chairman and directors, must be congratulated for their achievements in the relatively short life of this centre. The hall fulfilled a very badly needed want in the country in beautiful surroundings. The business and commercial acumen of the people running it are to be commended. It is gratifying to see a centre of this nature breaking even or getting as near to that as possible.

As I said earlier, one of the most encouraging sights as far as entertainment in Dublin is concerned is the queues very frequently spilling over into the adjoining streets, reminiscent of what used to be the case at many entertainment centres in Dublin. I believe that the Intoxicating Liquor (National Concert Hall) Bill will provide, totally legitimately, the necessary licence for the concert hall and will embellish the entertainment presented there.

Finally, as I said earlier when the Leas-Cheann Comhairle was in the Chair, I recommend to you, Sir, and to all Members of the House to visit there frequently. I believe that anyone who visits there will have a very satisfactory evening. I have great pleasure in supporting the Bill.

Mr. Wilson

Perhaps the Minister for State will buy the tickets for us.

Minister for State at the Department of Justice (Mrs. Fennell)

In summing up, I thank the Deputies for their remarks on this Bill. All the speakers have congratulated the board of the NCH on the excellent standard they have maintained in the hall and I would like to be associated with those remarks. Since its opening the concert hall has proved to be a forum for our own considerable talent in the country here and for visiting groups. As the Minister of State responsible for Arts and Culture has pointed out, a wide range of first-rank performers and companies appear in the hall. Not only concerts feature there. There is a widening range of concerts, exhibits and seminars, and I in my women's affairs section will be presenting post-Renaissance prizes there this day week.

As Deputy Woods has pointed out, it is right and proper that we should have regularising legislation such as this. I hope that this licence will contribute to the pleasure of patrons of the concert hall.

I would like to refer to Deputy Kelly's contribution, and I have an aside on that. He showed that some men in high places, intentionally or otherwise, perpetuate the use of words like "nannyish""grannyishness", "old-maidishness" and "old-womanish". I think they really mean "sedate" and "reserved" and I would like men to use those words.

Deputy Kelly referred to the desirability of providing for the grant of special liquor licences to theatres generally. As I remarked in my opening speech, there are three Dublin theatres, namely, the Gaiety, the Abbey and the Olympia, where court certificates are not required as a preliminary to the grant of a liquor licence. Theatres generally throughout the country can obtain liquor licences only on the same basis as any other premises. The question of granting special licensing facilities to theatres would involve such matters as the range of drink, the hours during which they might be supplied, the limitations, if any, on the number of theatre licences and the question of public health and safety, including of course fire precautions, enforcement problems and the relationship with the licensed trade generally. This is a matter on which I would not make any definitive pronouncement at this stage but I might say there would be many difficulties in the way of such proposals including that of defining, for instance, theatres. There would be similar difficulties in relation to the licensing of concert halls generally, a matter referred to by Deputy Mitchell. I have, however, noted the observations made and I will have further consideration given to this question.

The question of providing for the grant of full liquor licences to restaurants without their having to extinguish existing licences was also raised. This is being considered in the context of a current review of the licensing code. This matter is being discussed between the Minister and interested organisations, including representatives of the vintners and restaurant owners. If the Government decide any amendments of the licensing code are desirable in this connection their proposals will come before the House in the normal way.

A number of Deputies referred to the desirability of reviewing the present regime of permitted hours applying to licensed premises. I would say this is one of the aspects now being examined in the context of the current review to which I referred. As I mentioned at the outset, this is a non-controversial Bill designed to regularise the position with regard to a liquor licence for the National Concert Hall. Again, I thank all the Members who contributed to the debate and I hope the Bill will now be adopted without delay.

Question put and agreed to.

Agreed to take remaining Stages today.

Bill put through Committee and reported without amendment

Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass".

Mr. Tunney

I have been a fairly regular attender of concert halls. Lest anyone misinterprets my intervention may I say that as a young man I had the pleasure of rehearsing in such places as the Stag's Head. I have been associated with drama for a long while. I attended sessions of Irish Music when that was not fashionable and all the while I was able to do that without having the comfort of intoxicating liquor. In respect of the National Convert Hall, I would be concerned about under-age drinking. Indeed, at the moment parents are very concerned about under-age drinking and special precautions should be taken so that parents can be assured that their offspring when they attend the concert hall will have as their main purpose the savouring of the wonderful presentations, and the availability of drink will be relatively insignificant in their minds. I would hope the concert hall would not become a free-for-all for drinking. It is difficult for the Garda to go in and challenge people but it would be no harm if the Minister could give the parents of young people a firm assurance that the requirements of the Bill in respect of under-age drinking will be strictly adhered to.

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Mrs. Fennell)

Under section 4 the same provisions will apply as apply to other licensed premises.

Mr. Tunney

I would like something a little broader.

Question put and agreed to.