Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said legislation to reform the licensed drinks trade is still aimed at "a general liberalisation" of the licensing law to allow restaurants to serve beer and spirits.
Mr McDowell also said the Government would not introduce a national identity card because of the complexity of issues involved and because it would take between five to seven years to implement.
In a wide-ranging speech to the annual conference of the Beverage Council of Ireland in Co Wicklow yesterday, Mr McDowell also said he believed major supermarkets had the ability to circumvent the Groceries Order that bans below-cost selling, and he defended the State's system of indirect taxation, which, he claimed, benefited employment.
On licensing reform, Mr McDowell said that "without wishing to reopen the whole cafe bar issue", the real question was: "are we going to leave the consumption of beer and spirits in the context of pubs, or are we going to create a new area of middle ground where those products can be very widely consumed in the context of the consumption of food?...It is my view that that middle ground is the way forward, and that is why the legislation is going to drive forward a general liberalisation of the restaurant law."
Mr McDowell said more people were drinking at home, and the effect of the smoking ban had created a situation where the drinks industry needed new markets.
The creation of new areas where people could have alcohol in the context of food "was to be embraced, because you need new markets".
Change, he said, would take place, whether or not politicians or market participants liked it.
He revealed a national identity card was not a realistic prospect as it was a complex and lengthy process taking five to seven years to set up. He also had concerns that a requirement that people carry the card could be used to unnecessarily interfere in a person's desire to be allowed to proceed without unwarranted interference from the state.
He said there was still a problem in relation to young people and alcohol consumption. He intended to make it an offence, punishable by a fine of up to €3,000 or 12 months in prison, for a person to use a false Garda identity card.
He added that some parents were aware that children had up to three forged Garda identity cards.
In relation to the Groceries Order, Mr McDowell said large chains could source products outside the country and route them through a purchasing company to provide whatever invoices the companies wanted. In this way the Groceries Order could be abused.
Defending the State's tax system, which charges the full rate of VAT on bottled water and fruit juices, he said there was no real evidence that reducing VAT would increase sales.