Self-defeating

Taxes on wine

As the excitement around yesterday’s announcement of restaurant Michelin stars, and the deluge of television programmes proves, there is a great interest in cooking and food. The subject may even be the defining social enthusiasm of the zeitgeist. There must however, be a message in the fact that only nine restaurants in the Republic were so honoured and that each of those was recognised previously. This is, compared to Britain, a low enough return and suggests a comparative weakness in Ireland.

One burden all Irish restaurants carry is the spectacular, disproportionate level of tax imposed on wine. The Irish Wine Association published figures yesterday that will shock wine lovers. A bottle costing €8 — it will cost multiples of that in a restaurant — can be broken down as follows: The wine costs 11c, tax €4.69, packaging and distribution, €3.20.