MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Helen McEntee could not commit to a date for when proposed extensions to licensing laws, which would allow nightclubs to open until 6am, might be passed.

Members of the night-time industry said today they were “concerned” the proposed changes, which would see pubs open until 12.30am and nightclubs serve alcohol until 5am, would not be passed in time for this summer, the night-time sector’s busiest time of the year.

The Government signed off on a draft of the Sale of Alcohol Bill two years ago, and had promised late night pub and club openings would be in operation by summer 2023, before pushing the legislation out to Christmas of that year.

McEntee then indicated that the legislation might be ready by this summer. However, Taoiseach Simon Harris said last month that it was “unlikely” that the legislation would be ready by the summer. 

The Licensed Vintners Association and Vintners Federation of Ireland said it fears there is no longer any political will to implement the changes.

Former Fine Gael Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan told today’s Irish Sun that he has pressed within the party to drop the proposed time extensions for serving alcohol due to his concerns about the potential impact that “all night drinking” would have on the health system, and he said there was “no demand” from the public for it.

When asked about the proposed changes in Limerick today, Minister McEntee replied: “This is quite a large change that I’ve been working on and there are a lot of measures that need to be legislated for, and we’ve been working on that in my department.”

“And what I hope to do is bring forward some of those measures in the near future, but acknowledging that there’s a huge amount of change that’s needed and required across quite a number of different systems,” she said.

“But what I hope to do is bring forward a number of those changes in the near future.”

When pressed by reporters on when these changes would come in to play, the minister replied: “As soon as I possibly can.”

With reporting from Christina Finn