Carlow Nationalist — Carlow has a serious issue with problem drinking carlow-nationalist.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from carlow-nationalist.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Minister also insisted minimum unit pricing for alcohol is being introduced in the country “because there is powerful evidence it works.
“The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 legislates for alcohol from a public health perspective. The Act is designed to reduce alcohol consumption, to reduce the harms caused by the misuse of alcohol, and to delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people, he said in a statement.
“Addressing the availability of cheap strong alcohol products will reduce the disease and death caused by the harmful use of alcohol and will ensure that cheap strong alcohol is not available to children and young people at pocket money prices.
The measures, which have since been approved, will ban the sale of cheap alcohol ensuring a minimum price for cans, bottles of wine, and other drinks that could traditionally be bought in shops for a low cost.
The new rules will come in effect on January 1, 2022, and will set a minimum price per gram of alcohol at 10c, which means a can of beer will cost at least €1.32 and a bottle of white wine (Chardonnay) will cost at least €7.75.
Some retailers have expressed concern that consumers will simply travel to Northern Ireland to avail of cheaper alcohol prices, where similar measures are not yet being introduced.
According to Revenue Commissioners, alcohol consumption has remained at approximately 11 litres per person since 2015. Donnelly is due to tell Cabinet that a minimum pricing law would discourage harm to public health.
If approved, the new measures would set the price of a bottle of white wine (Chardonnay) at €7.75 and a can of beer at at least €1.32. As it stands, much cheaper alcohol is available to purchase in retailers across the country.
According to RTÉ News, Cabinet is expected to approve the measures, despite the fact that no similar law is set to be enacted in Northern Ireland.
Retailers have expressed concern that consumers will simply travel to Northern counties to avail of cheaper alcohol prices, and urged the government to wait until similar measures are introduced across the island of Ireland.