Sir, – Proposals by government to put alcohol out of view of young people and to price it out of reach of many others is imposing collective punishment for the sins of the few.
Older people on a fixed income will be most affected by these measures. Prior to deregulation, pubs and off-licences enjoyed an unhealthy monopoly which resulted in high prices and low standards. Reintroducing these restrictions may well deliver consumers back into the arms of monopolies and more expensive alcohol.
From the perspective of an older person, I like to be able to purchase my wine, bottle of stout or naggin of malt under the same roof and at the same time as I purchase my groceries. I do not want the added inconvenience and cost of going elsewhere to purchase my tipple. Also, my supermarket affords me a degree of anonymity which I would not have visiting a pub or off-licence.
Our legislators are among the highest paid in the world, but these proposals are more Luddite than progressive. They display a paucity of imaginative and innovative thinking and their implementation will only benefit special interest groups.
The solution to this problem lies in more vigilant parenting and rigid enforcement of the current law. Why should moderate drinkers, who make up the vast majority of consumers, be made suffer for the State’s failure to enforce the law?
– Yours, etc,
TOM COOPER
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.