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30/05/2005
Dublin Publicans Firmly Opposed to Introduction of Café Bars
LVA Presents Submission to Minister McDowell
§ Café bars will operate as small pubs – How can more pubs lessen binge drinking?
§ Publicans not alone in their opposition to the introduction of the café bar licence – National Alcohol Policy, the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, the Department of Heath and IMO all agree that increasing number of pubs will worsen alcohol abuse
§ Social research, the experiences of the UK confirm that café bars will exacerbate public order issues and alcohol abuse
§ Minister has provided no empirical evidence to support his view that cafe bars / small pubs will lessen binge drinking and will result in major cultural change
The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), which represents 95% of Dublin pubs today (Monday 30 May, 2005) presented the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Michael McDowell, TD, with a formal submission outlining the organisation’s firm opposition to the introduction of the café bar licence.
Commenting, Mr Donall O’Keeffe, Chief Executive of the LVA said: “Minister McDowell is to be commended on the codification of liquor licensing and the LVA supports much of the thrust of the proposed Bill. However, we are firmly opposed to the introduction of the café bar Licence. Make no mistake about it - café bars will, to all intents and purposes, operate as small pubs in the Irish context – and will be essentially indistinguishable from small pubs at night. The Minister cannot guarantee otherwise. This gives rise to two crucial questions: Who wants more pubs in Ireland and how can more pubs lessen binge drinking, the central objective behind the Minister’s proposals? With regard to the second question, the Minister has yet to provide empirical evidence to back up his view.
“Within the state, there are over 17,000 alcohol outlets already. 12,000 of these are public houses resulting in a pub for every 250 adults – a figure which is nearly three times the UK pub density on a per capita basis. 8,200 of those pubs have less that 1,500 sq ft of retail space and display many of the so-called characteristics of the proposed café bar concept outlined by the Minister.”
He continued: “Publicans are not alone in their opposition to café bars. The Government’s own Department of Health policy and its own Strategic Task Force on Alcohol all underline and reinforce the enormous importance of regulating the physical availability of alcohol and limiting the number of sales outlets. National and international experts and research all agree on the need to limit availability. The Minister’s café bar proposal flies in the face of this scientific evidence and will clearly exacerbate Ireland alcohol problems. This view has been reinforced by the Irish Medical Organisation, Alcohol Action Ireland and leading alcohol addiction counsellors.
“We are calling on the Minister to advance convincing empirical evidence to support his view that introducing more small pubs will lessen binge drinking and will result in major cultural change in Ireland. All social research, the experience of the UK and our views as publicans all confirm that café bars will lead to a proliferation of licenses in major urban centres and will certainly exacerbate public order issues and alcohol abuse across the country.”
Concluding, he said: “An important point to remember is that the current licensing regime does not exist for economic reasons or to protect publicans from competition, it exists because Irish society and Government deemed it necessary to control access to alcohol. Given the public concern about alcohol abuse in Ireland today, the case for maintaining the current licensing structure is overwhelming. The proposal represents an attempt at social engineering, ignores the certain licence proliferation that will inevitably result, runs counter to Department of Health policy and all international research findings, and accordingly, we believe is doomed to fail in terms of the Minister’s stated objectives. The Minister should not proceed with the café bar licences but instead should examine how amending restaurant and wine on-licences can achieve his objectives.”
A copy of the full submission can be accessed on the LVA website at: www.lva.ie
www.lva.ie
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