I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. Briefly I would like to indicate to the House the origin and the necessity for this Bill. A recent development in tourism here has been the establishment of holiday camps. There now exist three such camps, one situated at Trabolgan, County Cork, one at Skerries, County Dublin, and Mosney, County Meath. The problem affecting these camps presented itself in a very significant way when one of them made application at the normal period to the Circuit Court for a licence to sell intoxicating liquor. It was then learned that certain difficulties existed in the licensing code which precluded the Circuit Court judge, however willing he might be, from granting a licence to the particular camp. The purpose of this Bill may be found primarily in the judgment given by Judge Fawsitt when he indicated clearly that the present licensing laws would not permit him to grant a licence to a holiday camp. These large enterprises thereupon found themselves in a difficulty. I might mention that they have a tremendous employment potential. On a permanent basis these camps would give employment to no less than 300 persons; and on a seasonal basis they would give employment to at least 1,200 persons for a period of six months. In the main the type of visitor using these camps is limited in the amount he or she can afford to spend on a holiday. By virtue of the defects in the licensing code, they are precluded from having at their disposal within these camps intoxicating liquor. Some people might say that there is a latent menace in such a licence. In the case of one camp I might point out that a Catholic church has been built for its patrons, and there is a resident Catholic chaplain in the camp. There are visiting chaplains of other denominations. In that way there is adequate supervision so far as the camps are concerned.
To advert to the difficulty that arose under the licensing system, the learned Circuit Court judge indicated that he would willingly give such a licence if it were in his power to do so. He suggested that the way was open—that his suggestion would be that representations should be made to have the law amended so that he would be in a position to grant this licence.
The Bill itself is simple and straightforward. It purports to give no greater facilities to these holiday camps than are available to any other licensed premises in the country, in fact, less. All it does is that once a holiday camp fulfils the statutory requirements laid down in the Act—that it has residential accommodation for not less than 250 people and that it has a valuation of not less than £200—it is entitled to get the certificate that it is a holiday camp and, having done that, it is entitled to make an application to the Circult Court for a licence under this Act.
When I am dealing with the sections of this Bill I shall explain in detail to the Deputies what it actually purports to do. The condition precedent and the first thing necessary even before you can become an applicant for a licence under this Bill, when it becomes an Act, is that you get a certificate that you have a holiday camp—and for that purpose you have to fulfil the statuary requirement of having accommodation for not less than 250 residential guests and a valuation of not less than £200.