Fears off-licence home deliveries will fuel underage drinking
The warning follows the publication of a crime report this week which expressed concern at the spread of alcohol takeaways.
The Lord Mayor’s Commission on Crime and Policing said the trend was contributing to underage drinking and anti-social behaviour.
“In some areas, drink can be obtained from off-licences via delivery to the door, like a take-away meal, with practically no scrutiny about who is receiving it,” it said.
The report said the practice of alcohol delivery services should be curtailed.
NOfLA, the association representing off-licences, yesterday advised members against the service.
“We’d advise an off-licence not to do it, simply because it’s too hard to monitor how old the person you’re delivering to is,” said spokesman Richard Barry.
He said off-licences had the same legal obligations when delivering as when selling in their shops.
“If you start going down that road it’s only a matter of time before somebody under 18 gets the drink and you’ll find it so hard to disprove.
“The only way is to copy the ID at the door. Our advice is that you are really asking for trouble.”
He said in his experience people looking for a delivery service generally either didn’t have a car or were very young.
“More often than not it is very young people,” he said.
Mr Barry said while it was unclear if any specific law covered ‘distance sales’, he considered they were covered by the same legal obligations as shop sales.
However, he said as he understood it, “technically the sale has to take place in the shop itself, because that is what’s licensed.”
Off-licences which offer the delivery service told the Irish Examiner yesterday that the buyer paid the delivery person at the door.
The final report of the Liquor Licensing Commission said under current law a licensee is licensed to sell alcohol only on the premises specified.
However, legal advice sought by the commission found the interpretation of the law was not clear and recommended the law be amended to specifically allow for distance sales.
A garda spokesman said if an off-licence owner recklessly sells to an underage person in a delivery they are breaking the law.
“It’s the same for anyone who works in an off-licence. It is their responsibility. You can’t serve to people under 18, simple as that,” the spokesman said.
