Funding rural transport

REARVIEW:LET'S BE clear, no industry is worth saving if it costs lives. Noises emanating from Vintners Federation Ireland recently suggest rural pubs should be rescued at the expense of lifesaving drink-driving laws.

It would be unfair, however, the say the drinks industry is not a central part of our social fabric: it provides many thousands of jobs to the economy.

There must be a compromise that would allow those who wish to socialise in rural pubs to do so, get home without causing danger to others – and within the law.

It struck me that the new Aviva stadium can pour 90,000 pints on match day – a staggering figure. A 10 cent levy on each of those pints would generate €9,000 each match day.

According to a 2009 Ernst Young study, we drink more than 172 pints each per year. If you apply a 10 cent levy on each, you end up with about €70 million. Wouldn’t this be a good start to fund a rural transport system?

The average drinker’s bill would rise by only a negligible amount, publicans would see an increase in trade, private bus operators would see a new business opportunity and taxi drivers could seek an opt-in.

More importantly, citizens could reasonably expect not to be knocked down or crashed into by drunk drivers and the Government could, with consensus, introduce the long overdue stricter drink-drive limits.

plogue@irishtimes.com