New legislation will empower gardaí to shut down pubs for breaches of public-health guidelines.

The Criminal Justice (Enforcement Powers) (Covid-19) Bill 2020 was debated in the Dáil yesterday.

'Repeat offenders'

Justice minister Helen McEntee said yesterday (2 September) that the new law would allow gardaí to deal with ‘repeat offenders’.

New powers allow a garda superintendent to close premises for the remainder of the day if they refuse to comply with public-health guidelines.

Gardaí can also apply to the District Court for a three-day ‘emergency closure order’ if they suspect numerous breaches.

A ‘temporary closure order’ may also be sought where businesses fail to act on a notice to comply with regulations.

A first temporary closure order could close a business for a week, while subsequent orders could extend to 30 days.

The new bill also includes specific grounds on which gardaí can object to a liquor licence.

Criminalised

Labour TD Brendan Howlin criticised the new powers in the Dáil yesterday and said: "We do not actually know what specifically is to be criminalised, either now or into the future.

“That is a very dangerous thing to be doing with criminal legislation. At stake is the removal of people's livelihoods.

"How we can pass legislation that creates criminal offences that we do not know, and which can be renewed or changed tomorrow by new regulations?"