I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The purpose of this very short Bill is to allow for special opening of licensed premises and registered clubs on New Year's Eve for the celebration of the millennium. The Bill follows a recommendation of the National Millennium Committee that there should be a certain relaxation of opening hours on this special occasion and that it would facilitate everybody concerned, the public, licence holders and others, if there was a change in the law to meet the occasion.
In effect, the Bill provides for the setting aside of normal opening hours on the eve of the millennium. It does so on the basis that licensed premises and clubs registered under the Registration of Clubs Acts will be permitted to remain open for the sale of intoxicating liquor from after normal closing of 11 p.m. on the evening of 31 December 1999 until 1.30 a.m. the following morning. The normal 30 minutes drinking-up time will apply to the special closing time arrangement. This means premises will be required to be closed at 2 a.m. I should make clear that premises will not be allowed to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises during the extended period. Senators will agree that there is merit in that approach.
The Bill, as initiated, had proposed all-night opening on the eve of the millennium on the recommendation of the National Millennium Committee. The operation of that arrangement would have been interesting in light of the criti cism that is made from time to time that our licensing laws are too restrictive. However, it has become clear that many people, for various reasons, have mixed views about late opening on the night. It is reported that there are some publicans who do not intend to open at all.
The opening time proposed in the Bill is reasonable in the circumstances. I urge the House to accept the Bill on that basis. It is the Government's intention to legislate for wide-ranging and detailed changes in the law generally in another Bill. That Bill is being drafted following Government approval and it is intended that it will be published as soon as possible in the new year and enacted in time for the summer.
I take this opportunity to briefly inform Senators of some of the details of the Bill. As proposed, it will provide for a significant extension of licensing hours, wide-reaching changes in the licensing system and considerable strengthening of the law on under-age drinking. The features of the Bill will include the abolition of the distinction which currently exists between summer and winter trading; closing time on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays will be extended to 12.30 a.m.; on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, closing time throughout the year will be 11.30 p.m.; there will be no change to Sunday night closing but trading hours on that day will be extended by the abolition of the 2.00 to 4.00 p.m. closing; the proposed extended hours will also apply to registered clubs; there will be no change to Christmas Day and Good Friday; and the Bill will remove the restriction on the granting of a special exemption for any time on a Sunday, that is, after midnight on Saturday night and after normal closing time on a Sunday evening.
In addition, the Bill will rationalise the manner in which a licence may be acquired for a premises never before licensed. This will be achieved by uniform treatment of the application for a new licence between rural and urban areas. Under the Bill, a new licence may be issued anywhere in the State in substitution for one existing licence where the Circuit Court is satisfied as to the fitness of the applicant, the fitness or convenience of the new premises and by reference to the adequacy of the existing number of licensed premises in the vicinity of the proposed new premises.
I will be continuing a full-scale assault on the scourge of under-age drinking. Last April we introduced regulations providing for a voluntary national age card scheme. The national scheme, operated by the Garda Síochána, can be used to confirm that a person has attained the legal age for the purchase of intoxicating liquor. The new Bill will, therefore, contain measures aimed at strengthening in a number of ways the provisions regarding the supply or sale of intoxicating liquor to under-age persons.
We also intend to establish a commission on licensing. Its remit will include a review of the scope of the system of additional licences and an examination of other aspects of the licensing system, such as licences for theatres and places of public entertainment and the licensing of residential accommodation which does not come under the definition of a hotel, interpretative centres and other places where the sale of alcohol is ancillary to the main business carried out. The details of the terms of reference for the commission will be a matter for final determination in the light of discussion with relevant interests. We expect to be in a position to announce further details of the commission in the near future.
As well as taking into account in preparation of the large Bill the laudable work of the sub-committee of the Oireachtas joint committee dealing with the licensing laws, we are also taking account of the work of the Competition Authority. As part of the consultation process we have taken on board many of the submissions the Department received in response to the work of the sub-committee and the work of the Competition Authority. We look forward to debating the Bill in the House in the New Year. However, the scope of this Bill is confined to a very special occasion and I commend it to the House.