Don’t punish moderate drinkers

Already the publicans lobby is on full throttle. Michael Flynn (Minimum alcohol price is smart and may save pubs, Jan 27) attacks the right of supermarkets to sell, and consumers the right to purchase alcohol there.

I accept there is a need for government to retain some measure of regulation in regard to the sale of alcohol, but I emphatically reject Michael Flynn’s suggestion which would herald a return to publicans and off-licence monopolies. Competition leads to better service and quality and reduces prices.

The further proposal from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children (Retail ban would be draconian, Jan 25) for the Government to consider banning the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and garages in an attempt to stop under-age drinking, must rank as one of the most ill-informed and ill-thought-out pieces of proposed legislation the Dáil has ever been asked to consider.