The Government is set to ban below-cost sales of alcohol by off-licences, supermarkets and petrol stations in the New Year, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Brian Lenihan strongly indicated yesterday.
"I will be bringing proposals to the Government very early in the New Year on the whole question of alcohol because I believe alcohol is the gateway drug," Mr Lenihan told Newstalk 106 Lunchtime with Eamon Keane.
Home drinking or drinking away from pubs has become more popular as anti-drink driving laws have become tougher, he acknowledged, but this means young people are drinking outside of the supervision of older adults.
"The reality is there's a huge shift towards home drinking, and part of the reason for this is the very strict enforcement of the drink-driving legislation which now takes place and which is a good thing of course. "It has led to a reduction in the number of fatalities on the road. But the downside to it is that fewer people are drinking in the controlled atmosphere of a pub, and a lot of people are drinking a lot of alcohol in a very uncontrolled atmosphere of the home or outside generally. We really do have to look at this phenomenon."
Supporting limitations on the sale of alcohol, the Minister said: "But we can restrict the sale of alcohol. And we can look at the issue of the hours at which alcohol is sold for consumption off-premises. We can look at, and I think we will have to look at the issue of the sale of drink below its cost. Because this isn't an economic or commercial issue.
"This is a public order issue. And I've asked my department to bring forward proposals on this and to see how we can tackle this as a matter of urgency. There will be some consultation, but I intend to bring forward definite measures in this area within the first half of next year.
"We can't continue having this endless proliferation of the public sale of alcohol at below cost. It's not feasible for us to go on with this as a nation or as a people. We have to regulate it."
