Sir, - With reference to the letter from Deirdre Kelly (July 30th), 1 have never acted as legal advisor to the Licensed Vintners Association. When filing my declaration of interest in Dail Eireann a mistaken reference was made to the Licenced Vintners Association, which was corrected by me the following day. It has only just now come to my attention that the correction was not made to the register as published. It is the Vintners Federation of Ireland by which I was consulted as a solicitor in relation to one legislative matter.
As for the propriety of my being a member of the Committee on Legislation and Security and contributing to discussions on the licencing Acts, the above information was brought to the attention of members of the committee by me on an occasion when issues relating to the licensing laws were under consideration. It is my recollection that at the particular meeting at which this occurred I favoured changes in the licensing laws with which members of the federation disagreed. In the circumstances, I do not think I could he open to any accusation of having a "vested interest" in the matter under discussion. - Yours, etc., Alan Shatter TD' Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.