Health authorities urge 10% hike in tax on alcohol

HEALTH authorities have called for a 10% increase in tax on beer, spirits and wine in next month’s budget, after a report showed we are the third biggest consumers of alcohol in Europe.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) published a report on alcohol consumption trends which show that levels of drinking here have stayed the same for the past four years.

The report analysed trends for the past 20 years and found that drinking reached an all-time high in 2001 and 2002, when Irish people drank an average of 11.2 litres of pure alcohol a year. This dropped to 10.6 in 2003 when tax on alcohol was increased, and has stayed the same since.

According to these figures, the average Irish adult drinks 530 pints of beer a year, or 1,060 glasses of wine or 1,060 measures of spirits .

The EU average for consumption of alcohol is 10.2 litres per adult, and the figure puts us ahead of all EU countries except Luxembourg and Hungary.

The HSE compiled its figures based on the alcohol sales recorded by the Revenue Commissioner and combined them with figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). It gives the average for all the population, including children.

The figures published yesterday show more and more Irish people are choosing wine instead of beer as their tipple of choice.

Beer remains the most popular alcoholic drink, but its share of the market has fallen from 69% in 1986 to 52% in 2006. Twenty years ago wine sales accounted for just 6% of the alcohol market but now accounts for a fifth (21%) of alcohol drunk here.

Spirits, including whiskey, vodka and brandy — which had the biggest price increases as a result of rising tax — have seen a drop from 23% to 19% of the market.

Dr Joe Barry of the HSE said: “The findings show that a raise in excise duty remains an effective measure to reduce alcohol-related harm in this country. To this end the HSE has recommended a 10% rise in excise duty on alcohol in the forthcoming budget.”

He said: “Alcohol-related health and social harm are still having major impacts on Irish society and the aim of the Strategic Taskforce on Alcohol, of reducing our alcohol consumption to the EU average, has still not been realised. Results of recent reports from the Health Research Board and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development point to the need for a reduction in our alcohol consumption level.”