Calls have been made for the politicians’ Dail bar to be “shut down” as Leinster House has no licence to serve alcohol.
Socialist TD Paul Murphy told the Irish Mirror that the “lawmakers” in the chamber should not become “lawbreakers” when they go drinking in their unlicensed “shebeen”.
The call to shut down the bar comes ahead of major new licensing legislation coming to Cabinet in the coming weeks from Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
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All regular pubs in the country must currently go through their District Court every year to obtain a licence to serve drink.
The proprietor must prove that he or she is an upstanding member of society fit to hold a licence to sell intoxicating liquor.
A spokesman for Leinster House said it was a “longstanding custom and practice” that the politicians’ bars don’t need the document.
He added: “The Oireachtas does not have a licence.
“The tradition of the provision of refreshment, including bar facilities, within the precincts of Leinster House is based on longstanding custom and practice.
“The bar facilities do not operate under licence which reflects the practical difficulties that would arise in the enforcement of any licence given the privileges afforded to the Houses of the Oireachtas.”
Minister McEntee is due to unveil major reforms of the licensing laws before the Dail’s summer recess and the bar loophole could be addressed there.
Mr Murphy believes that the Dail is a place of work and he doesn’t see the need for a bar on the premises
at all.
The Dublin West TD told the Irish Mirror: “It’s a bit rich.
“I don’t think there’s a need for a bar in the workplace in the first place.
“But secondly, if there’s going to be a bar, it should abide by all the laws, the parliament and TDs shouldn’t be exempt from the laws that apply
to everybody else. They should be lawmakers and not lawbreakers.
“They’re getting special treatment, it seems like the laws are being made here [in Leinster House] but are being applied to other people.
“I think it’s clear now that the Dail bar should just be closed, that’s the solution.
“But, if it was going to remain open, it should clearly have to remain open on the same basis as every other bar in the country, not on the basis that the rules don’t apply to the Dail.”
There were previous calls for the Dail bar to be shut down in 2013 following “lapgate”.
Then Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams led the charge after it was revealed the pub had remained open while the Dail sat past 3am on July 18, 2013, the night of a controversial debate on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.
A source close to the Oireachtas authorities told the Irish Mirror that they “thought about” getting a licence at that stage, but subsequently dropped it after running into difficulty.
A Garda spokesman told the Irish Mirror: “The granting of liquor licence exemptions is a matter for
the District Courts.”
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