Extending pub opening hours would raise many issues for bar workers relating to health and safety, pay, shift work and the implementation of the Working Time Act, it was claimed yesterday.
Mr Jim Moloney, of Mandate, the union of retail, bar and administrative workers, said: "There must be a full and frank dialogue on these issues between all concerned, including the legislators, employers and Mandate, in advance of any legislative change taking place." He said the recently published report of the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Legislation and Security, A Review of Liquor Licensing, had major implications for workers in the bar trade. His union would be carrying out its own study, to be published within the next six weeks.