PICTURE THIS. YOU’RE on holidays in France or Italy and are touring a winery in the blazing sunshine. The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. It’s time to sample the wine being produced in front of your eyes.
But you can’t because of local licensing laws. Or at the end of the tour, you might like to actually buy some of the wine you’ve been learning about. But you can’t because of the local licensing laws, which deem such a transaction illegal.
Imagine your frustration at this and that of the wine producers who have been showing you around their property.
Of course this is not the case in places like France or Italy, but it is the situation faced by the multiples of breweries, micro breweries, cider makers and distilleries around Ireland, who are prevented from selling their own produce on their own premises.
Booming craft beer sector
This is the anomaly that I am seeking to address with my Intoxicating Liquor (Breweries and Distilleries) Bill 2016, which would remove this major regulatory barrier for these important Irish businesses.
The craft beer sector is booming in Ireland, with an eleven-fold increase in annual turnover since 2011, and a 29 per cent jump in the number of production microbreweries operating here last year.
Craft-brewing and distilling employs around a thousand people directly and indirectly, operating in nearly every county in the country.
I have spoken to many of these distillers and brewers, who want to open visitor centres to attract more customers for their product. But this potential to fully capitalise on craft-beer tourism is being hampered by the current licensing regulations, which require producers to have a pub license or an off-licence to sell their produce, made on site, to tourists and visitors.
It’s harming business and employment
For example not long ago, I visited the White Gypsy Brewery in Tipperary, and while there discovered that a number of craft brewer enthusiasts who had visited the brewery were shocked they couldn’t purchase the produce at the end of their short tour.
And after working with the independent craft brewers of Ireland and meeting some of the craft distillers, we came around to drafting this legislation to deal with that anomaly.
The potential volume of people who could be employed if we made this legislative change is huge because with tourists coming to this country and from throughout the country to visit these sites, awareness of brands such as Irish brands of whiskey from 100 years ago that became so popular around the world will increase, and more people will purchase them.
As a result, if this Bill is introduced, we will see a direct financial gain for many sectors. Take the construction industry, with a number of growers planning to build new visitor centres. Or in the distribution area and transport sectors or the agricultural sector in terms of the growth of crops, or in sales and production where more people will be employed.
Just this week, it’s been reported that production will soon begin at a new craft-beer brewery in Louth. Fáilte Ireland, where I worked once upon a time, has also stated that the craft brewing and distilling industry has enormous potential to increase tourism.
Last January, the Government launched its Action Plan for Rural Development with a list of plans to support jobs and improve our rural economy. So if we’re serious about rural development and supporting enterprise across the country, then enabling small businesses like craft breweries to become tourist hubs would be a win-win for all.
The legislation that I’m proposing is rooted in common-sense, with one simple objective: to remove a regulatory barrier to growth and support an expanding industry here in Ireland.
Alan Kelly is the Labour Party’s spokesperson on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and a TD for Tipperary.
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