Drinkers ‘paying dearly for outdated licensing law’

Ireland’s pub-goers are bearing the financial brunt of antiquated licensing laws, it was reported today.

The Competition Authority (CA) said stringent rules limiting the number of licences in the Republic have forced drinkers to pay millions of pounds more than they would otherwise have done since the regime began more than 100 years ago.

The warning came in a report to the Liquor Licensing Commission, set up last year to review Ireland’s drink laws.

‘‘The current system of liquor licensing seriously distorts the market, with the Irish consumer losing out through higher prices and reduced choice,’’ said Isolde Goggin, director of Regulated Markets at CA.

‘‘The distortion of the market is seen clearly in Dublin where approximately 35% of the population are served by just 12% of the pubs,’’ she said.

The laws, passed to combat alcoholism and drunkenness, mean the number of pubs in Ireland is capped.

New pubs have to buy existing licences and the cost is passed on to the consumer, Ms Goggin said.

She said a more modern approach was needed to tackle the social problems caused by alcohol, instead of simply restricting the number of drinking establishments.

‘‘Despite the limit on the number of licences, per capita alcohol consumption has doubled since 1965 and the incidence of associated social problems such as binge drinking, underage drinking and alcoholism have increased steadily,’’ she said.

Between 1965 and 1996, alcohol consumption more than doubled while the supply of licences remained the same.

‘‘This suggests that the current policy which focuses on restricting competition has seriously failed,’’ she said.

Tax on alcohol should be used to fund better education campaigns and more responsibility should be shifted to those behind the bar, she suggested.

She said the great irony of the legal situation in Ireland was that it was one of the hardest places in Europe to open a traditional Irish pub.