The Consumers Association of Ireland has called on publicans to hold off on the introduction of a 15 cent rise in the price of a pint, after it emerged that more than 800 pubs in Ireland had sales in excess of €950,000.
According to figures collated by the Revenue Commissioners, there were 504 liquor licences renewed for the 12 months to September last year where there was turnover in excess of €1.27 million.
A further 314 licences for turnovers of between €955,000 and 1.27 million were issued.
Just under half of the licences, 4,814, were for turnovers less than 191,000, while a further 2,650 were for outlets with sales of between 191,000 and €380,00.
There were 1,737 licences issued for premises with sales of between 380,000 and 955,000.
Last week it emerged that publicans were set to raise the price of a pint of beer by up to 15 cent, following a rise in wholesale prices by drinks firm Diageo, the makers of Guinness.
Mr Dermot Jewell, chief executive of the consumer's association, said the figures "prove that the turnover is there" in sufficient quantity to enable publicans to avoid passing on the rise.
"The business is still there and there has to be a reasonable profit in them. They can more than afford it.
"This increase is not necessary and it will drive customers away if they believe publicans are making excessive profits," he said.
The Licensed Vintners' Association (LVA), which represents publicans in Dublin, rejected this, claiming that larger pubs were surviving on relatively small margins.
Mr Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the LVA, said he expected most large pubs to pass on the price rise of its supplier, as is normal in most sectors.
With the average Dublin pub employing 17 people, he said the cost structures of large pubs were "completely different" to small country pubs, which were effectively run on a part-time basis.
"The point I would make is that an independent study we commissioned, which was carried out by Simpson Xavier BDO, showed that Dublin pubs operated on an average net margin of between 6 per cent and 8 per cent."
This compared with an average net margin of 21 per cent for hotels, he said.
"I don't accept that a net margin of between 6 and 8 per cent in any way excessive."
He claimed that a lot of the current criticism of pub prices centred around "headline" bars in the city centre. With the price of a pint of stout ranging from between €3.25 and €4.25 in the city, he believed most Dublin pubs provided "good value for money".