Café bar plans will not address binge drinking
The notion that our binge drinking problems can be transformed by providing a new kind of bar is based purely on a hunch of the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell. and the Commission on Liquor Licensing.
There is no evidence to support such a move. If cafe bars could assist our alcohol problems, they would have been recommended by the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, which was set up to examine how the harm caused by alcohol can be addressed.
On the contrary, the task force advised against increasing the number of outlets selling alcohol. The Commission on Liquor Licensing, while portrayed by the minister as a “broadly representative body”, was in fact largely comprised of business interests.
The Department of Health and Department of Education shared one single vote on that commission.
Members of the gardaí readily admit they do not have the resources to monitor adequately the sales and service practices of our 16,000 licensed premises. How are we to believe they can adequately implement the law in even more outlets? Alcohol Action Ireland believes there would be considerable uptake of cafe bar licences.
Given that on-licences (ie pubs) currently fetch six-figure fees there evidently is money to be made in alcohol. Café bar licences will come at a fee, but it is unlikely to dampen demand.
Cafés have until now been one of the few places to socialise that are generally alcohol-free. We predict there will be pressure on existing cafés to hold a licence and serve alcohol in order to retain their custom. This will reduce further the number of alcohol-free social venues for under-18s and adults alike.
All the experts in alcohol as a health and social issue say introducing more alcohol outlets in the form of cafe bars is not wise.
All the evidence is against it. Selling food where we sell alcohol is in itself a good idea; adding to the number of licensed premises is not.
This is the kind of information that must be considered by the Department of Justice in this period of consultation.
Alcohol is not an ordinary commodity, subject to the normal rules of commerce.
The WHO recently produced figures for the relative contribution of various risk factors to death and disease in this part of the world. They found alcohol to be the third most important of the 26 risk factors examined. Alcohol was more important than obesity, and five times more important than illicit drugs.
It is time our legislators showed a real appreciation of the problem.
Anna O’Neill
Secretary
Alcohol Action Ireland
Francis Street
Ennis
Co Clare.
