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17 2000

INTOXICATING LIQUOR ACT, 2000

PART 3

Provisions Relating to Under-Age Persons

Amendment of Act of 1988 (temporary closure of premises).

13. —The Act of 1988 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 36:

“Temporary closure of premises.

36A.—(1) This section applies to an offence under subsection (1) or (2) of section 31, subsection (1) of section 35 or subsection (1) of section 36 of this Act.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), where the holder of any licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor by retail in any premises is convicted by the District Court of an offence to which this section applies, the Court shall, in addition to any penalty imposed, make an order (in this section referred to as a ‘temporary closure order’) for the closure of the premises concerned or any part thereof for a period—

(a) not exceeding 7 days in respect of a first such offence, or

(b) of not less than 7 and not more than 30 days in respect of a second or any subsequent such offence.

(3) Where a licence holder—

(a) is convicted of more than one offence to which this section applies, and

(b) all the offences were committed on the same occasion,

only one temporary closure order may be made in respect of the offences.

(4) In determining the duration of a temporary closure order, the Court may seek from a member of the Garda Síochána involved in the investigation of the offence a report on the circumstances in which it was committed and any other information which the Court may consider to be of assistance to it in dealing with the case.

(5) The period of closure specified in a temporary closure order in respect of a licensed premises or any part thereof shall commence—

(a) if no appeal is made against the conviction or period of closure concerned, on the 30th day after the order is made, or

(b) if such an appeal is made and the conviction or period of closure is affirmed, on the 30th day after the conviction or such period is affirmed,

and shall end—

(i) if no appeal is made against the conviction or period of closure, on the expiration of the period specified in the order,

(ii) if such an appeal is made and the conviction or period of closure is affirmed, on the expiration of the period so specified, or

(iii) if on appeal the period of closure is varied, on the expiration of the period as so varied.

(6) A temporary closure order which is in force in respect of any premises or part thereof shall have effect for the purposes of the Acts as if the premises or that part were not licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor during the period of closure mentioned in subsection (5).

(7) If on appeal a conviction for an offence to which this section applies is reversed, the temporary closure order concerned shall thereupon cease to have effect.

(8) While a licensed premises or any part of it is closed in compliance with a temporary closure order, there shall be affixed to the exterior of the premises, in a conspicuous place, by the holder of the licence a notice specifying the period of closure and stating that the closure is in compliance with the order.

(9) No employee who is working in the premises to which a temporary closure order applies shall be disadvantaged in his or her employment by reason of the order during the period of closure under it.

(10) For the purposes of subsection (9), ‘employee’ means any person who works under a contract of employment with an employer or is a regular part-time employee as defined in section 1 of the Worker Protection (Regular Part-Time Employees) Act, 1991 .

(11) Nothing in the Acts shall prohibit the Court from ordering that a conviction for an offence to which this section applies shall be recorded on the licence held by the person so convicted, and accordingly, where the Court so orders, the offence concerned shall be deemed for the purposes of Part III (endorsement of licences) of the Act of 1927 to be an offence to which that Part of that Act applies.

(12) If—

(a) the conviction for an offence to which this section applies is affirmed by the Circuit Court on appeal, or

(b) the appeal relates to the period of closure specified in the temporary closure order,

the Court may vary the period of closure specified in the relevant temporary closure order.

(13) The jurisdiction of the District Court and Circuit Court under this section shall be exercised by the judge for the time being assigned—

(a) in the case of the District Court, to the district court district in which the relevant licensed premises are situated, and

(b) in the case of the Circuit Court, to the circuit in which the courthouse in which the temporary closure order was made is situated.”.

Amendment of sections 31, 35 and 36 (provisions relating to under-age persons) of Act of 1988.

14. —(1) Section 31 (sale of intoxicating liquor to under-age persons) of the Act of 1988 is amended—

(a) in subsection (3), by the deletion of “, and the offence shall be deemed for the purposes of Part III (which relates to the endorsement of licences) of the Act of 1927 to be an offence to which that Part of the Act applies”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following for subsection (4)—

“(4) In any proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) or (2) of this section, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the person in respect of whom the charge is brought produced to him or her an age card relating to that person or, if the defendant is charged with permitting another person to sell or deliver intoxicating liquor contrary to either of those subsections, to prove that an age card relating to the person to whom the intoxicating liquor was sold or delivered was produced by that person to that other person.”.

(2) Section 35 (restriction on under-age persons being on licensed premises during extended hours) of the Act of 1988 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by the deletion of “, and the offence shall be deemed for the purposes of Part III (which relates to the endorsement of licences) of the Act of 1927 to be an offence to which that Part of the Act applies”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following for subsection (7)—

“(7) In any proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) of this section, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he or she used all due diligence to prevent the person under the age of 18 years in respect of whom the charge is brought from being admitted to the part of the licensed premises which is used on foot of an exemption order as aforesaid for the sale or consumption of intoxicating liquor during the period in respect of which the exemption was granted or that the person produced to him or her an age card relating to that person.”.

(3) Section 36 (restriction on under-age persons being on premises used for sale of intoxicating liquor for consumption off the premises) of the Act of 1988 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by the deletion of “, and the offence shall be deemed for the purposes of Part III (which relates to the endorsement of licences) of the Act of 1927 to be an offence to which that Part of the Act applies”, and

(b) by the substitution of the following for subsection (7)—

“(7) In any proceedings against a person for a contravention of subsection (1) of this section, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he or she used all due diligence to prevent the person under the age of 18 years in respect of whom the charge is brought from being admitted to the premises or any part of the premises which is used exclusively or mainly for the sale of intoxicating liquor for consumption off the premises or that the person produced to him or her an age card relating to that person.”.

(4) Section 38 (employment of persons under 18) of the Act of 1988 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(3) (a) For the purposes of paragraph (d) of subsection (1), a person under the age of 18 years but not under the age of 16 years who is engaged in general duties in licensed premises to which an on-licence is attached is not engaged in the sale of intoxicating liquor.

(b) In paragraph (a) of this subsection, ‘general duties’ includes taking orders for intoxicating liquor and serving it at tables, but not supplying it from behind the bar counter in the premises mentioned in that paragraph.”.

Further amendment of Act of 1988.

15. —Part IV of the Act of 1988 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 41:

“Display of notice.

41A.—(1) The holder of a licence in respect of licensed premises and the secretary of a club registered under the Registration of Clubs Acts, 1904 to 2000, shall display in a conspicuous place in the licensed premises or club premises concerned a notice containing a statement of the offences provided for in this Part.

(2) The notice shall be in a form or forms prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding—

(a) £250 in the case of a first offence, or

(b) £500 in the case of a second or any subsequent offence.

(4) Regulations under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(5) The provisions (relating to the display of notices) of subsections (4) and (6) of section 34 and subsections (3) and (6) of sections 35 and 36 are repealed.

(6) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister may by order appoint.”.

Application to registered clubs of provisions of Act of 1988 relating to under-age persons.

16. —Sections 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36A (inserted by this Act) of the Act of 1988 shall apply in relation to a club registered under the Registration of Clubs Acts, 1904 to 2000, as if any references in those provisions to the holder of a licence and to licensed premises were references to the secretary of such a club and to that club's premises and with any other necessary modifications.

Supplier to be identified when intoxicating liquor sold for consumption off premises.

17. —(1) The name of the owner, and the address, of premises to which an on-licence or an off-licence is attached shall be clearly indicated on a label affixed to any container in which intoxicating liquor is sold for consumption off the premises.

(2) A licensee who sells intoxicating liquor, or who permits it to be sold, in contravention of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding—

(a) in the case of a first offence, £250, or

(b) in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, £500.