The creation of the new cafe bar drinks licence will substantially increase the number of alcohol outlets countrywide, writes Constance Cassidy SC
The proposed scheme for the new Intoxicating Liquor Bill aims to codify the licensing laws and in that, the Minster for Justice, Equality and Law Reform deserves every encouragement.
A pivotal reform, introduced to combat binge drinking, it is the creation of a completely new type of liquor licence known as the cafe bar licence, which is subject to a public consultation process. Do we need such licences? What will they be like? Will they be used (or abused)? Will they address the issue of binge drinking?
At present, and since 1902, the creation of a new publican's on-licence involves the extinguishment of another licence in a one-for-one substitution. The applicant must also prove that there is a demand in the neighbourhood for a new drinking outlet.
The object of the Licensing (Ireland) Act, 1902 was to safeguard the public interest by preventing a proliferation of licensed premises, the lord chief justice of the time commented that "the public house was the great source of supply of drink to the public, though a spirit grocer's may be fraught with special danger to the limited class of women who are addicted to drink, and who might avail themselves to a more or less secret way of getting drink".
The creation of the new cafe bar drinks licence will substantially increase the number of alcohol outlets countrywide, thus reversing the social policy that has been in place since 1902.
The new licence is, in effect, a full publican's licence, permitting the sale of spirits, beer and wine by retail, with the following restraints:
r The cafe bar cannot exceed 130 square metres.
r It cannot operate a late bar.
r Hot food and non-alcoholic beverages must be available for sale.
r Off sales are not permitted.
Unlike the ordinary publican's licence, it can be created out of nothing - there is no need to kill off an existing licence in substitution. Nor does the applicant have to establish that there is a demand for this drinks licence in the neighbourhood.
There will be no restriction (subject to the local authority) in the number of such bars on a street, in a city or town or in the countryside.
The cafe society which the Minister is seeking to create in place of our superpub culture already exists, and is well served by the growing numbers of unlicensed cafes and US coffee house chains, many patronised by students.
It is possible that the addition of an unrestricted drinks facility will expose these youngsters to the new risk of consuming drink from early on (10.30am) in a socially conducive atmosphere.
This is particularly worrying in the light of the College Lifestyle and Attitudinal National report which found that three out of four drinking occasions become binge drinking sessions for male students, and that binge drinking is almost twice as prevalent among female students as it is among women in the general population.
Over the past 15 years a huge percentage of pubs countrywide, from the smallest to the superpub, have responded to consumer demand and serve hot food from mid-morning until late evening.
The demand for food with drink is already being met, but it does not appear to have dented the levels of binge drinking identified in the report.
The cafe bar licence in fact already exists in the State in the form of the special restaurant licence, which was created in 1988. This licence is the same as the proposed cafe bar licence, except that there is no restriction on the size of the restaurant premises, and alcohol must be consumed in conjunction with a substantial meal in the restaurant.
Such premises cannot contain a public bar, so the emphasis is very much on food.
By contrast, it seems from the Minister's proposals that the cafe bar licence imposes no obligation on the licensee to provide a meal when serving drink, or on the patron to have food with the drink.
The consumer can sit in the cafe bar all day without ordering food. If the special restaurant licence has not dented binge drinking over the past 20 years, it is hard to see how the cafe bar licence will discourage excessive social drinking.
Let's look at this from the new licensee's point of view: he or she has a small premises which is hugely restricted in terms of space and which cannot be expanded. The premises will have to comply with both planning requirements and fire regulations.
According to current architectural practice and building regulations controlling occupancy levels in licensed premises, the services such as kitchen, lavatories, staff facilities etc, will amount to up to 55 per cent of this limited space, leaving 45 per cent as public space, including tables, chairs and a bar counter.
An architectural assessment is that absolute capacity is unlikely to exceed 70 patrons.
One has to question whether a licensee might not be tempted to emphasise the drink element of the business in order to enhance turnover, or even to make the business pay.
The introduction of the cafe bar may be welcomed by the more mature residents of the leafy suburbs.
Not only are these unlikely to be binge drinkers, they are already well catered for by existing licensed restaurants, and wine bars. Minister McDowell's vision of a less drink reliant society is laudable, but in creating a proliferation of licensed premises to combat a serious social problem he may well be providing an Irish solution to an Irish problem.
• Constance Cassidy SC is author of Cassidy on the Licensing Acts