Sir, – Your Editorial (“Alcohol abuse”, November 14th) and recent reports, rightly point to the serious issue of alcohol misuse in Ireland and the remedies required to address this problem.
While it is important to point out that we are currently in a period of rapidly declining overall alcohol consumption, the drinks industry recognises the legitimate concerns that exist regarding the sale of low price alcohol.
However, addressing this through further tax increases or the introduction of a minimum price are not necessarily the solution to this problem. Ireland already has among the highest alcohol taxes in Europe, and any further excise increase will simply provoke a return to cross-Border purchasing that was seen a number of years ago.
Furthermore, minimum pricing is a questionable measure from both a legal and public health perspective, and its introduction would undoubtedly bring Ireland into conflict with EU competition regulations.
For these reasons, we believe the Government could address this issue through the reintroduction of the ban on the below-cost selling of alcohol that was removed in March 2006 and which was opposed by the drinks industry at the time. That is a practical, proven measure that alongside a concerted and renewed commitment to education and public information, would go some way to deal with the problems of alcohol misuse. – Yours, etc,