The Government has agreed to a proposal from Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan to set up an advisory group which will propose measures to tackle the public order aspects of alcohol abuse. These are expected to be enacted before the summer.
The advisory group will be chaired by Dr Gordon Holmes, former chairman of the Garda Complaints Board. It will also contain a representative of the Garda Síochána, a representative each from the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and of Health and Children, a medical expert and a criminologist.
The group has been established against a background of a 17 per cent increase in alcohol consumption in the past decade. This has been accompanied by increased availability of alcohol through a growth in the number of supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations with off-licences, the use of special promotions, and an increase in the number of licensed premises availing of special exemption orders, which permit longer opening hours.
According to the Revenue Commissioners, there has been a 35 per cent increase in the number of off-licences from 2003 to 2005 (up from 785 to 1,070) and an increase of 20 per cent in the number of premises with wine-only licences. Many of these are mixed-use premises, including grocery shops and petrol stations.
The advisory group has been asked to look at the heavy promotion of alcohol, including below-cost selling, by certain supermarkets and petrol stations.
It will also examine the use of special exemption orders. These orders, ostensibly for "special occasions" and permitted under the licensing laws, are used by both pubs and clubs to remain open and sell alcohol until 2.30am. After a half-hour's "drinking up time", patrons then pour onto the streets at 3am, with public order implications.
There has been an increase of 24 per cent in applications for special exemption orders between 2001 and 2005, the last year for which figures are available, when there were 93,247 such applications. While legislation introduced in 2003 allows local authorities to adopt a resolution concerning the expiry times of special exemption orders in their areas, no local authority has, to date, used this power.
The group will also examine the question of sanctions and penalties, and consider ways to make them more consistent and transparent. Licensing law in Ireland is very complex, and the statutes range from those enacted in 1833 to legislation passed in 2004. Fines and penalties vary from one statute to another.
The licensing laws require the courts to impose temporary closure orders in certain cases, including conviction for under-age sales. However, it is not clear how this can be applied to premises engaged in mixed trading.
The advisory group will report to the Minister by March 31st, enabling legislation to be enacted before the summer recess.