Sir, – Your editorial (October 28th) clearly identifies the enormous lobbying taking place by the alcohol industry, in opposition to the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill and suggests that these efforts have slowed and limited progress.
It represents the selfish actions of an industry which wishes to place its profits ahead of the health and wellbeing of Irish citizens.
Alcohol is no ordinary commodity for sale alongside groceries and confectionery. It is a powerful and addictive product causing enormous harm. It has never been more widely available. Between 1998 and 2010, there was a 161 per cent increase in the number of full off-licences in Ireland.
Ireland is one of the heaviest drinking and worst binge-drinking countries in Western Europe.
The cost of alcohol use and misuse is enormous: three deaths a day and approximately 1,500 hospital beds a day occupied as a result of alcohol.
The alcohol industry should have no role in formulating national alcohol policy, a view endorsed by the World Health Organisation. It has a conflict of interest, with its primary responsibility to shareholders and profit.
Industry opposition to the separation of alcohol products in retailers is a real example of a Trojan war tactic to undermine the Bill. Product separation is an effective measure supported by health campaigners.
The former minister for health, Leo Varadkar, published the Bill on December 9th, 2015. Ireland has lost almost 1,000 people since then due to alcohol. Every day counts.– Yours, etc,
Prof FRANK MURRAY
President,
Royal College of Physicians
of Ireland,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Sir, – The drinks industry is in favour of the policy objectives behind the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. We fully agree that legislation is needed to tackle the problem of excessive drinking, an issue which is in nobody’s best interests.
Our concerns are that certain proposals contained in the Bill will do little to tackle alcohol misuse through a combination of unintended consequences and a lack of supporting evidence. For example, we have long called for the reintroduction of the ban on below-cost selling in order to address the issue of cheap alcohol. It was the repeal of the Groceries Order in 2006, against the advice of the drinks industry, which directly led to the use of alcohol as a loss-leader by large retailers.
As an industry which supports the employment of over 200,000 people, it is entirely legitimate that we would make our concerns known to public representatives. Your editorial criticise the “supine behaviour” of Senators yet they are tasked with ensuring legislation is workable before enactment.
Finally, alcohol consumption has actually declined by 25 per cent over the past 15 years and is now comparable with our European neighbours. A recent study found that underage consumption has been in decline in Ireland for 20 years with substantial reductions in alcohol use by teenagers between 1995 and 2015. Tackling alcohol misuse requires a collaborative approach and we remain committed to working with policymakers and other stakeholders to ensure that forthcoming legislation will be effective in doing just that. – Yours, etc,
ROSS MACMATHÚNA
Director,
Alcohol Beverage
Federation of Ireland,
Lower Baggot Street,
Dublin 2.