Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Simon Harris (FG), Wicklow

I do not want to jinx it, but I think there is a compelling case for providing flexibility in terms of people being able to watch us qualify for the World Cup and then, God willing, get to the World Cup. I wish our team all the very best starting next week in what is a crucial period of time for Irish soccer. The Deputy's point is a really important one and it is also an economic point. When people come to our country, they want to be able to access our hospitality. We need to make these things as simple as possible for publicans and provide them with the flexibility as well. Obviously, we need to do all this while being conscious of public safety, conscious of Garda resources and conscious of access to transport. I recently spoke to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on this. I know he is working his way through this matter and I will ask him to come back to the Deputy with an update. There are a number of things in this Bill and sometimes they are all viewed as some kind of homogenous package. I think we should be trying to move ahead as quickly as we can with measures that would specifically help our pubs, which are a vital part of our economy.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19