Minister announces new café-bar drinks licence

The Minister for Justice has won Government approval for a new liquor Bill that will cater for Continental-style café bars.

The new licence would be available only for premises of less than 130 square metres which are not engaged in "take-away" sales of food.

Hot meals and non-alcoholic beverages would have to be provided for consumption on the premises and the sale of alcohol for consumption off the premises would not be permitted.

The creation of a café bar licence was a key recommendation in the Final Report of the Commission on Liquor Licensing, a body that included representatives of the licensed trade and hospitality sector.

The creation of a licence for café bars is one element of the General Scheme of the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2005, which was published today.

The proposed Bill is intended to streamline and modernise the State's liquor licensing laws, and Minister McDowell has invited interested parties and the public to participate in public consultation in relation to commission's proposal.

He said the purpose of the proposed Bill was to "make it more accessible and user-friendly for the licensed trade, the courts and members of the public alike; to reduce alcohol-related harm, especially among young people; and to improve compliance with licensing law by licensees, and its enforcement by the gardaí."

The Bill does not propose any significant changes to existing opening hours.

In a statement the Minister said: " My primary purpose is to modernise and streamline licensing law in order to make it more accessible and user-friendly for the licensed trade, the courts and members of the public alike; to reduce alcohol-related harm, especially among young people; and to improve compliance with licensing law by licensees, and its enforcement by the Gardai".

He also called for "rational debate and for constructive dialogue" on how best to address the problems of alcohol-related harm in this society.

"I believe that we can forge a broad measure of consensus on how the liquor licensing laws can contribute to that process," he concluded.