Proposal for new minimum alcohol prices in Ireland- VIDEO

Ireland’s responsible drinking initiative praised

BERNIE MALONE,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Friday, October 21, 2011, 8:21 AM

Updated Friday, October 21, 2011, 10:32 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

2 Comments

An Irish health minister hopes to introduce minimum prices on alcohol

Photo by Google Images

An Irish health minister hopes to introduce minimum prices on alcohol, in a bid to tackle alcohol misuse in Ireland.

Róisín Shortall, Junior Minister in the Department of Health, wants to end the sale of cheap alcohol.

"We’re hoping that we would be able to move towards a situation where there would be a minimum price set per ounce of alcohol and that would be in addition to the taxes that would have to be paid," she said.

"Recently, one of the supermarkets was selling two bottles of wine for a fiver. Now that’s less than the actual excise duties on bottles of wine and I’d like to move towards a certain situation where that would not be allowed under the law."

The Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI), said any new pricing laws will increase the potential for court challenges.
-----------------
Read More:
Pregaming, beer pong and the legal drinking age limit - Young-adult party cultures of Ireland and America

Irish barmen acquitted over alcohol poisoning death

Irish D.J. blames alcohol abuse for his lewd behavior
-----------------
A spokesman told the Irish Examiner, "While we do not wish to pre-empt any of the recommendations contained in the final report, we do note the legal difficulties associated with the introduction of minimum pricing to which the minister refers."

Meanwhile, at a European forum, an Irish alcohol awareness campaign has been praised as a model for best practice.

The Dare2BDrinkAware multimedia campaign was praised at the European Alcohol and Health Forum in Brussels on Wednesday, the Journal reports.

The campaign sought entries which focus on responsible drinking, and are targeted at Irish college students.

Here is last year’s winning entry by Ciara Kennedy, which offers an interesting perspective on some Irish ladies preparations for a night out on the town.

Babes In Bits from Ciara Kennedy on Vimeo.

Nster.com

E-mail

2 Comments

See all comments

gobdawpaddy | Oct 23, 2011, 01:56 PM EDT

Irish people are like children - they need the government to hold their hands in every facet of their lives. Irish drivers didn't pay any attention to the dangers of drink driving until it started to cost them when the law was enforced. In driving sheets of rain that is impairing visibility most Irish drivers don't have the sense to slow down - the sign says 120 KMPH, so thats what he/she is going to do, even though they may only be able to see 40 meters in front of them. Tax evasion was a national pastime until enforcement started to cost Irish taxpayers money via penalties. There are several roundabouts in the Ennis area that have high fences along the sidewalks near them to protect the Irish pedestrian from their own stupidity - if the fences weren't present they would attempt to cross at the roundabout, or so high, they would climb over them. Raising the price of alcohol may be the only way to get the Irish to cut down on its consuption, they would never consider the health risks themselves.

Report abuse

Yardleypa | Oct 23, 2011, 10:11 AM EDT

Another gimmick to raise taxes is there no end to this.

Report abuse