Government turns a blind eye as drinks trade takes us by the throat

THE latest price hike announced by the drinks industry is rather hard to swallow.

Employing some warped sense of logic, Diageo, which brews Guinness, among other things, have come up with an inane strategy to combat emptying pubs make drink even more expensive.

So, to make their products more attractive and enticing to the punter, the drinks giant is slapping a six cent rise on the price of a pint. Going for the jugular, in more senses than one.

For a chaser, the publicans will show that they are well able to match such a dynamic strategy and will take their own pension fund protective measures by slapping at least as much, if not more, on the pint.

Consequently, everyone is happy the brewers, the publicans and the Government, all of whom bemoan the increases while at the same time getting a handsome slice from this latest extortion.

The only one who isn't, of course, is the usual sitting duck the consumer.

On top of that we have Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue arriving at the conclusion, obviously via the Ring of Kerry, which any gobshite expelled from a hedge-school knows: Ireland is a rip-off for native and visitor alike.

The minister would rather describe it as a "competitiveness issue" around the cost of drink and eating out.

He might have added that the Government, which gives him an exceptionally comfortable salary and perks to cushion him against the outrageous cost of living here, is substantially responsible for our level of inflation.

It is the same Government which has totally abandoned price control apart from encouraging them to go higher and whose policy on the issue is from the Marie Antoinette school of political science.

Instead of 'let them eat cake', the Fianna Fáil - Pee Wee's considered and oft repeated advice is 'let them shop around' because they certainly can't afford cake.

Diageo, from one description, would remind you of the ESB a highly profitable business which already makes a huge margin from Irish customers.

The ESB, which made a couple of hundred million euro profit last year, isn't happy with that. Corporate greed an infectious disease that's now indigenous and out of control in this country demands that they apply for a double-digit price hike.

If approved by the regulator, electricity prices will have increased by more than 40% in three years almost four times the rate of inflation.

This is a classic example of how the Government can completely wash its hands of any contamination of blame by the consumer. They are more paranoid that Howard Hughes about picking up anything.

The Minister for Natural Resources, Dermot Ahern, is responsible for the country's energy, and on the day the ESB announced they were going for an unspecified rise but a substantial one he fulminated against it on the TV news. Mr Ahern said that while he has no responsibility for the ESB, he was opposed to another price hike.

He declared with a measure of annoyance for the camera: "The ESB have enough liquidity in their company, they have enough efficiencies within their company to in effect negate any desire or need to apply for a price rise. I think the ESB, more than any other semi-state company, should look very closely before applying for a price rise."

And what can he do about it? Absolutely nothing, as he admitted.

That's the great thing about regulators they get the blame for the bad news and the Government can do its two-faced Pontius Pilate act. Like this latest increase in the price of drink.

Given our exorbitant cost of living, it's ridiculous, even suicidal, for this country when the brewery, and consequently the publicans, can get away with it.

In Dublin, the cost of a pint of stout is heading for the €5 mark and about €1 less in the country, depending on where you enjoy a tipple. It's not so much that the Government can't do anything about it it just refuses to. A few years ago there was price control on drink, but it was removed.

As Minister for Tourism, John O'Donoghue knows how vital the hospitality industry is to the country.

IN response to the latest Diageo disaster, all the minister could do was say: "I would call upon both brewers and the licensed trade to seriously consider the potential negative impacts of proceeding with drink price increases which can only exacerbate our existing competitive disadvantage in this area."

What a load of useless waffle.

Neither the brewers nor the licensed trade are even listening to him. Why should they, when they know that the Government will do absolutely nothing to stop them?

They would maintain that they are looking after their own corner, just like the minister was when he was instrumental in getting more than €500,000 for the Killorglin Rowing Club, after the rules were changed to allow them qualify for a sports grant. He continued his lecture to the unconvertible by saying that this sort of behaviour could only go so far before it began to have possibly long-term negative consequences.

Somebody should tell the minister there is no "possibly" about it. The consequences have arrived. They have arrived in the shape of fewer people in pubs and restaurants because of the ludicrous smoking ban which his colleague, Health Minister Micheál Martin, introduced like a zealot. It's ludicrous to the extent that there was absolutely no compromise entertained, unless you happened to be in prison or in a psychiatric unit.

Mr Martin might ask all those tourists who are forced onto the streets for a smoke how they feel about Irish hospitality or tolerance and whether they will be back.

How many more international conferences will have to be cancelled, directly as a result of the ban, before commonsense returns.

I don't care what any minister says to justify the ban; it is a disaster in the global way it was implemented. People who smoke are not inclined to go to the pub as often, and there is no question but that business has been hit. But putting up the price of drink is not the answer.

Having proved the point that smoking in public places can be controlled, and having gotten the message across quite forcibly, Mr Martin should exercise some of the discretion which John O'Donoghue so much admires in ministers, and do something before it turns into a disaster.

The novelty of enjoying a drink at a table outside a pub in the sunshine of the past few days has a very limited lifespan in this country, and very few people will stand outside a pub door in the middle of winter.

If they do, they will become another burden on the minister's already expensive, totally overstretched health service.