Leo Varadkar’s high-minimum-price alcohol proposal punishes responsible drinkers

Receiving Cabinet approval for new legislation that sets a minimum price for alcohol, Health Minister Leo Varadkar said environmental health officers would be given powers of enforcement (‘Alcohol health warning to tackle bingeing’, February 4). Really?

Mr Varadkar seems not to understand that legislation to curb excessive and underage drinking has received Cabinet approval many times over many years, but has never been enforced.

In 2000, an Oireachtas sub-committee investigation found that our licensing laws needed to be modernised in line with public expectation and demand. It was agreed, after consultation with interest groups and the public, to do away with restrictive legislation governing access to the drinks market.