IF LICENSED PREMISES are permitted to open to the later time of 12.30am, the National Transport Authority (NTA) will have to re-examine its public transport timetables, the Justice Committee will hear today. 

Representatives from the NTA, Mandate trade union, Alcohol Action Ireland, the Institute of Public Health, the Irish Community Action on Alchohol Network and the Department of Justice are to appear before the Joint Committee on Justice at 3pm today. 

They will be discussing the General Scheme of the Sale of Alcohol Bill.

The Cabinet approved legislation in October that would allow pubs to open from 10.30am to 12.30am, seven days a week, while nightclubs can remain open until 6am.

Venues will be prohibited from serving alcohol after 5am, but dancing can continue for another hour.

Opening hours for late bars will remain at 2.30am, while a new later bar permit will be required.

If the legislation is passed by the Oireachtas, the changes are likely to be enacted next year.

The NTA will tell the Committee that historically, the timetable for the provision of urban public transport services aligned with the opening hours of licensed premises at 11.30pm. 

The BusConnects networks for Dublin and Cork support the provisions of 24-hour bus services on key routes, seven days a week. The design of the Galway and Limerick network of bus services are currently underway, with Waterford scheduled for redesign in 2023. The provision of 24-hour bus services are to be considered in those redesigns. 

Graham will tell the committee that to date, ten 24-hour, seven-day bus services have been provided in Dublin while maintaining the weekend Nitelink services on other key routes. 

Further 24-hour services will be provided over the next few years if the current shortage of driver resources in the industry is eased, she will say. 

Graham will say that if the extension of the general opening hours of licensed premises to 12.30am is enacted, the NTA will have to re-examine the timetables of bus and other public transport services to see whether it is possible to extend a proportion of these services to later operating hours in the cities. 

The NTA will also have to look at what the impact of those extensions would be on the transport operators and their staff and what the cost to the Exchequer would be to provide any additional operating hours beyond the current schedules. 

Workers’ health and safety

Mandate trade union is to tell the Committee that there are health and safety concerns for workers’ in relation to the potential reform of licensing laws. 

Mandate will tell the Committee that in many instances, workers do not receive their legal entitlement to breaks and are often expected to perform duties unpaid, such as cleaning up after closing. 

The trade union will say that bar work by its very nature falls into the category of high-risk occupations, particularly froom a health and safety perspective with workers already exposed to long working hours, dealing with aggression, violence and intimidation from, some customers under the unfluence of alcohol. 

Mandate is to put forward a number of recommendations during the Committee. 

It will say that a special forum should be established representing all stakeholders to ensure the needs of the sector are met both now and into the future. 

It will suggest that a specific provision should be established for the revocation of a license (temporary or permanent) if breaches to employment law occur. Mandate is also calling for the publication of the name of the employer and their premises. 

Mandate will claim that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) does not have the capacity to conduct sufficient inspections to ensure compliance with employment legislation. If it is not possible for the state to provide this, Mandate is advocating the Australian and New Zealand model where inspections are carried out by trained trade union staff for the purpose of health and safety regulation compliance. 

The trade union will also recommend the introduction of a mandatory provision of premium pay for hours worked beyond 11.30pm, along with the provision of transport for workers expected to work unsocial hours and/or financial compensation for transport outside of social hours. 

Among a number of other recommendations to be outlined today, Mandate will call for the provision of legislation for threatening or abusing workers, including the sexual assault of workers in the licensed trade.