The days of buying cheap drink in the supermarket are about to be numbered, friends. While many of us have a few drinks in the house to save on the pennies, a new law banning cheap booze may curb all that.
A Bill was passed in the Seanad yesterday which will see minimum pricing introduced on alcohol in leading supermarkets in an attempt to limit harmful drinking.
According to The Irish Independent, cut-price cans of cider and beer will surge following the proposed changes - drinkers may even pay double for cans. Under the new legislation, the sale of beer for well under €1 is no longer allowed while cheap wine is also a no-no, with a standard bottle of 12.5pc set to cost at least €7.50.
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As well as having an impact on the price of cheaper brands, specially discounted multi-buys such as trays of Carlsberg and Budweiser will also be hit by the restrictions on minimum pricing. Supermarkets will have to sell each drink for a minimum of 10c per gramme of alcohol.
In the Seanad, Health Minister Simon Harris was quoted as saying:
Price matters. If it goes up, harm goes down. We hear that Irish people drink moderately, but the 2017 Healthy Ireland Survey found that nearly four out of 10 of us binge drink regularly. The more we drink, the higher our risk of developing life-changing illnesses such as alcoholic liver diseases or alcohol related cancers. We can no longer ignore the evidence or the risks.
Retailers will now have limited shelving in their outlets for the sale of alcohol which could result in smaller shopkeepers having to fork out €20,000 to rearrange the layout. Patricia Callan of the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland spoke out against the strict measures of the proposed law:
The drinks industry fully supports measures to target alcohol misuse and underage drinking, but it is critically important that these measures are targeted and based on evidence. There is a need for a balanced approach. We are concerned to see the Government trying to push through legislation that contains measures that won't work.
Those who prefer a few drinks in the pub anyway can breathe a sigh of relief as they won't be paying any more to sup on their booze.
