The Director of a Waterford arts venue is calling for the reform of the licensing legislation.
Ciara O'Connell from Central Arts told an Oireachtas Committee that the current legislation dates back to the 1930s.
A policy on night-time culture is being developed and is looking at the issues including staggering pub closing times.
In her opening statement to the Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Ciara O'Connell said there's a "commonly held belief that Dublin nightlife culture is dying".
"While this may be true, know that it is happening all over Ireland, and we have been feeling it for a long time."
"The legislation that dictates our night-time economy is outdated. It needs to be re-examined and overhauled and with allowance for venues outside the mainstream licensing system."
Ciara O'Connell said venues like hers are starting to disappear.
"There has to be space for all these venues.
"I talk about a scene a lot, we need a scene where our culture and who we are as people can be shown to those coming in, be it a small venue like mine or the bigger venues.
"There's space for everybody to exist and co-exist but at the moment the legislation is not allowing that to happen.
"I feel like venue's like mine are starting to disappear and if we disappear it's going to be very hard to get us back."
She said they ran a very successful mentorship programme
"We brought in young DJs, 16 and 17, showed them how to put on a night, aided them in graphic design.
"A couple of those DJs now are touring all over the world, have come up through my venue, have found their way into an artistic performance space.
"We need to provide these spaces for young people so that they can find their feet and cut their teeth in the arts-world.
"The arts-world can be very exclusive and unattainable for certain demographics of young people.
"If we don't have venues like mine, stepping stones into the arts-world, it's not going to happen."
