The appeal of Ireland will not wane because of increase in price of wine
Yes, wine is expensive in Ireland, but so too are several other products used by tourists, such as accommodation, food, transport and clothing. In fact the excise duty on alcohol has not increased in line with inflation, so relatively speaking, alcohol is cheaper and this is the likely reason that there was an increase in alcohol consumption in Ireland last year and in the first quarter of this year. Interestingly, the consumption of wine has increased more than beer, spirits and cider.
The economy is recovering and we are able to afford to increase our alcohol consumption. What is clear cut is that it has been shown on numerous occasions that the higher the price of alcohol, the less we consume and vice versa. The more we consume the higher the morbidity and mortality from alcohol; the rates of hospital admissions and deaths from alcohol have more than doubled in the last decade in Ireland, at a time when they are decreasing in other southern European countries.
The cost to the Irish taxpayer is €3.7 billion per year, on health expenditure, crime and public order offences and missed days at work. The costs to individuals and their families is far higher and one of the most difficult aspects of my job is telling patients and their families that they are likely to die as a consequence of their alcohol consumption.
Three people a day die in Ireland as a consequence of their alcohol consumption, liver disease is just one of many illnesses that causes premature death, often in patients in their 30s and 40s.
When looking at the appeal of visiting Ireland what might you prefer:
To send you child to college in Ireland, a place with the highest incidence of binge drinking in the world, and risk them having accidents, unprotected sexual intercourse, or becoming harmful drinkers as an adult.
Or to be unfortunate enough to experience an illness while here and then have to wait on a trolley for hours or even days before being treated, while at the same time 1,500 hospital beds per night are being occupied as a result of alcohol, (admittedly the ‘trolley crisis’ is multifactorial but this statistic does not help).
Or, to dig a bit deeper into your pockets for the occasional good bottle of wine, a luxury that now seems to be accepted as a norm in the Irish diet and a product we all feel we should be entitled to on a regular basis.
I am certain that there are an abundance of attractions for tourists in Ireland and the cost of our wine is unlikely to significantly influence them, it certainly has not quenched our own thirst.
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