Vol. 566 No. 3
146 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the specific steps he is taking to limit increases in the floor areas of licensed premises in urban centres in view of his concern over the increase in the number of superpubs. [12851/03]
As regards the size of licensed premises, the Commission on Liquor Licensing has expressed concerns in its final report concerning the recent proliferation of very large licensed premises. These tend to create noise and nuisance for local residents and make compliance with and enforcement of the licensing laws much more difficult.
As a means of countering this trend, the commission has recommended the creation of an additional ‘small premises' licence for new entrants to the licensed trade. This recommendation, together with other structural reforms recommended by the commission, will be considered in the context of the codification of the licensing laws.
While the commission did not recommend imposing a statutory limit on the size of licensed premises, this is a matter which could also be explored in the codification context. Any such provision would have implications for planning law and would have to be discussed in the first instance with the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
