Sir, – You have published several letters (September 17th, 21st) challenging the views expressed (September 16th) regarding the effectiveness and legislative feasibility of a minimum unit price for alcohol.
There is robust evidence to support the claims that the proposed minimum unit pricing will reduce consumption of alcohol in Ireland by approximately 8.8 per cent, save lives and reduce hospital admissions by almost 6,000. This has been witnessed in several provinces in Canada. It is also consistent and builds on extensive data from numerous sources that have consistently demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship between alcohol price and alcohol consumption.
The argument that minimum unit pricing penalises everyone for the sins of the few is not true and it does not tally with the numbers of people doctors and other healthcare professionals care for every day as a result of alcohol consumption. A tangible benefit of minimum unit pricing over tax and excise measures for alcohol is that it is targeted to those who use excessive alcohol and young, often underage, drinkers. For example, a recent study of patients with devastating liver failure due to alcohol in the UK demonstrated that these individuals drank more than 140 units of alcohol per week and spent only 33 pence per unit. Liver specialists will confirm that this is often what they see.
We are all paying a very heavy price for alcohol in Ireland. Our harmful relationship with drink costs the exchequer €3.7 billion annually, is responsible for three deaths every day, with 1,500 beds taken up every night in Irish hospitals with alcohol-related conditions and accidents and incidents, and is overwhelming these hospitals. The personal and health costs to individuals and their families are crippling.
The conclusions of the European Court of Justice opinion permit national rules that prescribe a minimum retail price for alcohol provided that those rules are justified by the objectives of the protection of human health, and in particular the objective of combating alcohol abuse, and do not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
Minimum unit pricing offers additional advantages and fewer disadvantages than the relatively blunt instruments of excise and taxation of alcohol.
The ECJ opinion is a huge step forward for Government policy. Evidence shows us that minimum unit pricing works. It deserves to be supported. – Yours, etc,
Prof FRANK MURRAY,
President,
Royal College of Physicians
of Ireland,
South Frederick Street,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – I think it is encouraging to see several people express opinions on the issue surrounding the cost of alcohol, taxes and the more controversial minimum unit pricing over the last few days.
While we might have to agree that we’re not going to agree on the solution to our alcohol problem in Ireland, I think it is safe to say that we all recognise there is a significant problem with alcohol abuse in this country.
Like many complex problems, there is unfortunately no one ideal solution or answer. However, we do know that legislation is far more effective than other forms of intervention, such as education.
Minimum unit pricing will not affect the cost of alcohol for most; it is targeted at hazardous drinkers, ie young binge-drinkers (we have the highest rate of binge-drinking among the young in the world and we do not know what health consequences this will bring). We need to protect our future population, many of whom are under-age drinkers and who may not know any better.
Introducing a minimum unit price of €1 per unit of alcohol will make it marginally more expensive than a pint of milk.
Robust studies have shown that the introduction of minimum unit pricing significantly reduces the harm associated with alcohol misuse, including hospitalisations and deaths.
Minimum unit pricing will not affect the maximum unit price of alcohol; yes, the cost of alcohol is high in Ireland but it is actually behind the rate of inflation in general.
I think we can learn a lot from other countries but I’m not so sure we should take the lead from them. Ireland took the lead in banning smoking in pubs many years ago, so I remain optimistic we can take the lead with alcohol, and support what we know is right for our own culture and country.
We should support the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, which not only contains recommendations on minimum unit pricing but also essential guidance on advertising, labelling and the purchasing of alcohol.
The daily reality of my own job is telling young people that they are going to die prematurely from alcohol abuse.
Some of your readers have suggested that the alcohol abusers “carry the costs themselves”; unfortunately by the time many of them realise they have significant medical problems from alcohol, it will be too late for them to ever return to meaningful employment or indeed survive their first hospital admission. – Yours, etc,
Dr ORLA M CROSBIE,
Consultant Hepatologist,
Department of Hepatology,
Cork University Hospital.
Sir, – Minimum unit pricing is not a tax and will affect only the cheapest off-sales and have absolutely no impact on pub or restaurant alcohol prices. The European Court of Justice opinion notes that member states can choose minimum unit pricing over taxation if they can show that such pricing has additional advantages, which it does. We see in minimum unit pricing an evidence-based policy that can dramatically help our patients (current and future), their families and all of us in this country. Our major hurdles now are commonly held misconceptions and the collective might of the drinks industry. I suspect the two may be closely linked. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN STEWART
Director of the Centre
for Liver Disease,
Mater Misericordiae
University Hospital, Dublin.