More than Peanuts- Restaurant Certificates
The government’s accelerated Roadmap to Reopening Society and Business allows restaurants and “bars operating as restaurants“ who can comply with the COVID 19 related public health protection measures to open at Phase 3. This date is now likely to be 29th June 2020. Pubs may open at Phase 4 which is likely to be on 20th July 2020.
While the details of what will be published next week are awaited, it is anticipated that pubs with restaurant certificates will be able to open on 29th June. There has been a lot of debate about whether a pub that serves more than peanuts is considered a restaurant. The legal requirements for a pub to be given a restaurant certificate are clear. A premises must be structurally adapted for use and bona fide and mainly used as a restaurant supplying substantial meals.
Restaurant certificates are issued by the District Court and require an application from a licensee to show the Court that the premises are a restaurant. We have set out below the key requirements for such an application:
- A copy of your current Liquor Licence from Revenue;
- If the license is held by a company, Certificate of Incorporation and Memorandum and Articles of Association
- Sets of plans, of the interior layout of the premises when it will open indicating compliance with covid-19 requirements. For example, 2m distance between customers; if there is a table that seats 6 people it can be described as a family table for members of the same household.
- Disability Access certificate where applicable;
- HSE food hygiene certificate where applicable.
- Menus and detail of the types of meals on offer.
Dublin District Court is dealing with ex parte applications on a case by case basis.
If you are interested in obtaining a restaurant certificate, please contact Patricia Heavey Head of Licensing on 0868040731
About our licensing experience :Patrick F O’Reilly & Co company have a long established tradition in licensing law having acted in some of the most groundbreaking applications since foundation of the state. While we are proud of our past we are consistently innovating to stay at the cutting edge of practice for our clients so that they achieve the best possible results.
We have a dedicated workflow tailored for licensing matters to ensure that our clients’ applications are handled smoothly in the most uncomplicated manner. This meant that our annual licensing applications for 2020 had a 100% success rate. That is every one of 22 applications made by us was granted on the first occasion in Court. We have applied to be part of the E-Licensing platform that the Courts system is rolling out. This, we hope will make the process more streamlined and easier for all involved
