A body representing the off-licence trade has called for the introduction of minimum pricing on alcohol and a ban on below-cost selling, moves the Government has already signalled it is examining.
The National Off-Licence Association (Noffla) today addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, which has recently been examining the issue of alcohol marketing.
Also before the committee was the drinks industry-funded group Meas, which stands for Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society. Meas said “thorough and full research” must be done in the area of minimum pricing before any legislation was considered.
That organisation also said there appeared to be competition issues with regard to minimum pricing and that legislation could also have unintended consequences.
Evelyn Jones, chair of Noffla, called for the reinstitution of the ban on below-cost selling. The ban was effectively removed when the Groceries Order was repealed in 2006.
Noffla said it represented 330 members, representing 5,600 jobs in 26 counties. It was operating in a “very difficult business environment” and there was a misleading impression that the off-licence trade was “doing well” because of recent shifts to home consumption, Ms Jones said.
This was not the case, she said, adding if wine were taken as an example, nearly 80 per cent of all wine sold for off-trade consumption last year was sold by grocery, convenience and petrol outlets.
The organisation said the irresponsible promotion and sale of cheap alcohol was being used as a “driver of footfall” into supermarkets, petrol stations and convenience stores and this was ultimately making the survival of many small, often family-owned off-licences impossible.
“Noffla’s members now find themselves in an unsustainable trading environment. In the last three years alone, 2,600 jobs have been lost in the independent off-licence sector, with average turnover down 25 per cent to 50 per cent.”
With regard to the sale of alcohol, Ms Jones said voluntary codes of practice did not work. At the moment in Ireland, there was an unnecessary over-reliance on self-regulation and voluntary codes of practice with regard to alcohol sales and marketing.
Noffla called on the Government to end the reliance on voluntary codes and to enact sections 9 and 16 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008.
Section 9 provides that alcohol should be displayed and sold in a separate location from other, general products.
The then minister deferred the section in favour of a voluntary code of practice. Noffla said there was nationwide evidence the code was not being enforced and that section 9 must now be enacted.
Alcohol was now being sold in stores beside confectionery, snacks and magazines, which was a “direct target" on young people.
Section 16 of the act makes provision for prohibiting or restricting the use of alcohol as a promotional tool in advertising.
Noffla said it was apparent the voluntary code in this area was not being implemented in the spirit for which it was intended.
“The newspapers are awash with cut-price and volume deals of alcohol as the large retailers use alcohol to compete for their grocery market share. It is clear that voluntary codes of practice are not suitable vehicles for alcohol control,” Ms Jones said.
Questioned about sales of alcohol to younger people in particular, Ms Jones said: “Alcohol is our only product. Failure to adhere to the law means loss of licence and loss of livelihood. We are not interested in serving underage people.”
The Meas submission said that while there clearly was a role for regulation by statute, it was not “a panacea”.
Chief executive Fionnuala Sheehan said the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, which outlawed "happy hours", had failed and the legislation had resulted in “a proliferation of ‘happy days’.
“The problem with regulation by statute of this type of promotional activity is that it is rigid, it is not responsive to an innovative marketplace, it is costly on the State to implement, and the statute must generally be interpreted in the letter only.”
Chairman of the committee Jerry Buttimer (FG) said that as a teacher, children indicated to him that it was not stores such as supermarkets like Dunnes and Tesco that they were using to buy drink.
He said they believed it was “much easier” to get alcohol from an off-licence.
Mr Buttimer also challenged Meas’s campaign slogans, including "Enjoy Alcohol Responsibly", suggesting they all acted to positively promote alcohol.
Catherine Byrne TD said she supported a blanket-ban on all alcohol advertising, particularly where it was connected with sport. She believed supermarkets should not be allowed to sell alcohol alongside food.
Senator David Cullinane cited Alcohol Action Ireland’s figure that a 30 per cent reduction in alcohol-related harm would result in a saving of €1 billion, including savings to the exchequer and the health system. Alcohol in Ireland was 50 per cent more affordable than it was in 1994, he said.
Senator John Crown, who is a consultant oncologist, said there was a “dichotomy” in the country whereby everyone knew that as a country we needed to drink less, and yet people as individuals continued to drink to excess.
Prof Crown said that if alcohol only became available for the first time “tomorrow”, it would be illegal. Purely on the basis of its cancer-causing properties, it would not pass the tests to allow it be sold, he said.