Ireland faces being "overpubbed" if a Government plan to liberalise licensing laws goes ahead, vintners groups said.

Publicans' groups the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), which represents pubs outside Dublin, and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), which represents Dublin pubs, said the bill would create too many pubs and kill off the trade.

One publican warned that rather than leading to more pubs it would mean more closures in rural areas.

The Sale of Alcohol Bill will be discussed by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice today. As proposed by Justice Minister, Helen McEntee, it would get rid of the "extinguishment" provision whereby anyone seeking to open a pub must buy a licence from an existing licence holder. This can be an impediment to opening new pubs in towns and villages where pubs have shut.

After a transition period of three years following the enactment of the Bill, Ms McEntee proposes to remove the extinguishment requirement.

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The LVA said the decision to liberalise the pub market from 2026 will eventually "see pubs on every corner in major towns and cities".

It also warned that the proposal to allow anyone to apply for a pub licence will see more rural pubs "die off as the value of many of these premises will evaporate overnight".

Tourism industry expert Eoghan Corry said: "There's an entire segment of our tourism industry that's built, not just on the pub, but on the rural pub. Anything that kills the rural pub, or damages it and makes it less sustainable, is bad for tourism.

"If we're going to make life more difficult for rural pubs, let's think of what we're going to do to replace it from the point of view of the unique character of the rural tourism product," he said.

More than one in five pubs (1,800) have closed their doors since 2005, which the Licensed Vintners Association says is a sign that the country is already "overpubbed".

With 6,800 pub licences in the Republic, there is one pub for every 738 people, compared with one pub for every 1,415 people in the UK.

LVA chief Donall O'Keeffe said: "The Government has claimed this liberalisation is being adopted in order to ensure there are more pubs in rural areas. That's not what will happen. Rural pubs are closing because they don't have a market. Their customer base is vanishing."

Publican Michael Coyne, of Coyne's Gastropub, near Roundstone in Co. Galway, said: "In towns it could be beneficial but in rural areas it could be detrimental and you'll have more and more pub closures."

Launching the Bill last October, Ms McEntee said it was time to reform our "antiquated licensing laws".