McDowell to brief FF on licensing reform plans

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is due to brief the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party today about his plans to reform the alcohol licensing system.

The minister said yesterday that he planned to press ahead with the complete deregulation of licensing for restaurants as part of reforms aimed at tackling Ireland's drinking culture.

The announcement followed opposition from Fianna Fáil back-benchers to his previous plan to introduce thousands of new licences for continental-style "café-bars".

Mr McDowell believes promoting the concept of "food with alcohol" will help tackle binge-drinking, but opponents believe increasing the availability of alcohol will exacerbate the problem.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael is due to table a private members' motion in the Dáil this evening calling instead for more garda resources to tackle binge-drinking.

The motion also calls for the creation of a national alcohol strategy.