Charity urges price increase as deterrent

THE Government should bring in minimum prices for alcohol or raise taxes on it, Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) has said.

Responding to the HSE-commissioned report, the charity said the only way to reduce alcohol-related harms was to make drink more expensive.

But alcohol suppliers and manufacturers said there was “no evidence” to suggest that increasing excise duty on alcohol was an effective way of dealing with misuse, and said such a move would penalise the responsible drinkers.

Fiona Ryan, chief executive of AAI, said that all the research showed that higher prices lowered consumption rates.

“The more you drink, the more alcohol-related harm there is, the more costs are incurred,” she said.

“If you want to reduce alcohol-related costs, you have to reduce the harm, and to do that you have to reduce the consumption, and one of the most effective ways of doing that is through pricing.”

She said AAI advocated the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol, below which drink cannot be sold.

Ms Ryan said there were proposals from the alcohol industry for a ban on below-cost selling, which she said was “incalculable”, as the costs which could be included were too extensive and wide-ranging.

She welcomed the report’s call for the Government to consider raising excise duties on alcohol.

“The Government has two choices: minimum pricing or increase excise duty,” said Ms Ryan.

She said the alcohol industry argued that minimum pricing breached EU competition law, but that Scotland was going to do introduce it on the basis that public health concerns over-rode competition laws.

A spokesman for the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland, which represents alcohol manufacturers and suppliers said: “The ABFI notes the recent report by the HSE on the cost to society of alcohol misuse.

“While overall alcohol consumption in Ireland has been declining steadily for the last decade, the wider drinks industry fully recognises the need to address misuse through evidence-based measures directed at those who misuse our products.”

On the proposed tax increases, he said: “There is no evidence to suggest that increasing excise is an effective method of addressing alcohol misuse. Increasing prices will simply penalise the average consumer who enjoys alcohol responsibly, and will also encourage further cross-border purchasing of alcohol, to the detriment of local jobs and the national economy.”

He said alcohol misuse was “not in any way in the interests of the drinks industry” and they continued to work with Government, state agencies and all other relevant bodies to promote a more responsible attitude to alcohol in Ireland.

* For more on this issue, see alcoholireland.ie, drinkaware.ie or drugs.ie, or phone the HSE Drugs Helpline: 1800-459-459