Two organisations representing publicans today said that 1,500 pubs have closed with thousands of jobs lost since 2001.
The figures from the Licensed Vintners' Association (LVA) and the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) are based on an analysis of the number of accounts held by the major drinks manufacturers who supply pubs across the country.
The two bodies claim that the industry is facing "significant challenges" in terms of the high rate of tax on alcohol, ongoing growth of home drinking, and falling overall consumption - down 7 per cent per adult so far this year.
In a joint statement, Donal O’Keeffe of the LVA and Padraig Cribbin of the VFI said that the taxation and regulation policies over the past decade had put pubs at a disadvantage, and that the Government now needs to reassess the cumulative impact of these policy changes.
"The strength of the sector is now under more pressure than ever before and jobs are being lost and community resources are closing.”
The publicans said that they were fearful in particular of the sector’s ability to live with further tax increases in the forthcoming budget.
“The old reliables are no longer reliable. This industry is facing major challenges, and it will struggle in particular if the current high level of alcohol tax is increased again in the forthcoming budget.”
The two added: “Ireland has the most heavily taxed alcohol market in Europe. Nearly €1 in every €3 spent on alcohol goes to the Government in tax . . . . And our rate of VAT [21 per cent] on alcohol products is higher than the rate that applies in Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK."
