Sir, – The Report on the Misuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs, from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, recommends a ban on selling alcohol in shops and the introduction of a 9pm watershed for alcohol advertising on TV.
A ban on selling alcohol in shops may transpire to be counter-productive, as it may drive customers to other sources which may be illegal and unsafe. Perhaps a more pragmatic measure would be to restrict the sorts of alcohol that can be sold in the supermarkets, and putting a limit on when it can be purchased.
In Finland, supermarkets are permitted to sell beer and cider up to 4.7 per cent alcohol/volume and cannot sell alcohol after 9pm.
Only the national alcoholic beverage retailing monopoly Alko is permitted to sell the stronger alcoholic beverages, and the number of these outlets and their opening hours are relatively limited, in contrast to the popularity of off-licences in most of the the rest of Europe.
Alcohol is expensive and pricing is strictly controlled.
The Nordic alcohol controls could perhaps serve as a benchmark reference for the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. – Yours, etc,