Vintners Federation seeks excise duty reduction

The Vintners Federation has responded to Government calls for a decrease in the price of alcohol by demanding a reduction in excise duty.

Speaking at the VFI annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, Federation President Richard Dunne, said that Ireland now has the second-highest excise duty in the EU.

He added that the Government could easily remove 8p per pint in excise duty if it so wished and that this would bring about a price decrease of 10p per pint when VAT is included.

This, he concluded, would bring about the 3% price reduction recommended by a recent OECD report.