7.— (1) The District Court may refuse to give to a person a certificate entitling him or her to receive a new relevant off-licence in respect of premises on the grounds of—

(a) the character, misconduct or unfitness of the person,

(b) the unfitness or inconvenience of the premises,

(c) the unsuitability of the premises for the needs of persons residing in the neighbourhood, or

(d) the adequacy of the existing number of licensed premises of the same character in the neighbourhood.

(2) The District Court may impose a condition, on giving a certificate referred to in subsection (1), relating to the installation, use or operation, or any combination thereof, of a closed circuit television system in respect of the premises concerned and, accordingly, if there is any failure to comply with such condition, such failure shall relate to the good character of the licensee for the purposes of the renewal under the Act of 1986 of the relevant off-licence concerned.

(3) At the hearing by the District Court of an application by a person to give to the person a certificate entitling him or her to receive a new relevant off-licence in respect of premises—

(a) the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána within whose district the premises are situate, and

(b) any person who resides in the neighbourhood,

may object to the application and, for that purpose, may appear and give evidence.

(4) Notwithstanding the Licensing Acts 1833 to 2004—

(a) the District Court may not refuse to give a certificate referred to in subsection (1) on grounds where it has a discretion to so refuse except on the grounds specified in that subsection, and

(b) only a person who falls within paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (3) in respect of the application concerned may object to the application.

(5) For the purposes of the application of section 4 of the Act of 1986 to any renewal of a wine retailer’s off-licence, the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána within whose district the licensed premises concerned are situate shall be deemed to be a person who, pursuant to subsection (6) of that section, may object to the renewal of such licence.

(6) This section shall not apply to an application, made by a person to give to the person a certificate entitling him or her to receive a new relevant off-licence in respect of premises, in respect of which service of the notice of the application has been effected in accordance with the District Court Rules 1997 (S.I. No. 93 of 1997) before the commencement of this section.

(7) In this section, “ relevant off-licence ” means—

(a) a spirit retailer’s off-licence,

(b) a beer retailer’s off-licence, and

(c) a wine retailer’s off-licence.