§ MR. MACVEAGHTo ask Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether he can state with whom rests the discretion to grant occasional or conditional licences for extension of hours in hotels in provincial towns in Ireland; and whether, in view of the uncertainty at present prevailing, he will issue a circular setting forth whether a permit from a justice of the peace in the petty sessions district will be accepted by the authorities.
(Answered by Mr. Cherry.) Exemption orders, in respect of premises already licensed, enabling them to be kept open (with some limitations) during prohibited hours may be issued by two or more justices of the peace in petty sessions. Occasional licences, permitting the owners of licensed promises to sell at other places than the licensed premises, for limited times, may be issued by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue with the consent in writing of one justice of the peace usually acting at the petty sessions for the district within which the place of sale is situated. I see no reason for issuing a circular explaining the law, which can be easily ascertained by consulting any text book on the Licensing Acts.