Ireland's drinks industry seeks 10% excise cut as consumption falls to EU average

Report shows Ireland's has second-highest excise rates in the EU 

DIGI said the high rate of tax is hard to justify given that the average consumption of alcohol per adult in Ireland has fallen by more than one third (34.3%) since 2001 and now stands at the EU average.

Ireland's drinks industry is demanding a 10% cut in alcohol excise in the October Budget that it says should be the first step in a multi-year plan to align excise rates with those seen across most other EU countries.

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) said consumers here pay 11 times more excise duty on beer than Germans, and 80 times more excise on wine than the French.