Drink labelling plan 'unworkable'

Off-licence owners have condemned the latest proposal by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, to curb drink-related anti-social behaviour.

The National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) says the requirement that all alcohol sold in its stores carry a mark identifying the place of purchase is unworkable and will lead to dearer drink.

Separately, nightclub owners have also complained to the Minister about his proposal to ban music and dancing during drinking-up time in their establishments.

NOffLA says it is "naive in the extreme" for Mr McDowell to expect that the identifying mark could act as a practical means of curbing underage alcohol abuse.

Mr McDowell announced the measure before an Oireachtas committee on Wednesday, saying it would help trace outlets which sold drink to minors.

The proposal, to be incorporated into legislation currently being drafted, applies to takeaway sales from pubs as well as off-licences.

It was first proposed three years ago but Mr McDowell's predecessor, Mr John O'Donoghue, dropped it after lobbying by the drinks trade. More recently, Labour suggested the idea in a policy document on alcohol abuse published last month.

However, the chairman of NOffLA, Mr John Shiel, says the proposal is "ill-conceived and totally unworkable".

"From a practical standpoint, it would be impossible to individually label the many millions of packs which are sold by our members each year, without incurring very substantial costs," he says in a letter sent to the Minister yesterday.

"These costs, in turn, must be borne by the consumer and will inevitably lead to price inflation," says Mr Shiel.

NOffLA says a particular difficulty arises in the case of multiple packs, which account for a large proportion of beer sales. Since these arrive in stores pre-packed, any labelling would have to be done at the packaging plant.

According to Mr Shiel, "it is not possible to individualise labels at this stage, because all mass distribution is centrally controlled".

NOffLA, which represents about 300 off-licences, says pub owners would also have serious difficulties with the labelling requirement as it would be impossible to distinguish between goods for consumption on the premises and those for consumption off the premises.

Meanwhile, the Irish Nightclub Industry Association says the proposal to ban dancing during drinking-up time in clubs "makes no sense" from a public order perspective as it would result in customers leaving earlier to "join the throngs on the streets".

Its chairman, Mr Jay Bourke, says the measure will diminish the difference between nightclubs and late-night bars and thereby cause more problems on the streets.