Home > Alcohol-related harm costs State an estimated €3.7billion a year.

[Alcohol Action Ireland] Alcohol-related harm costs State an estimated €3.7billion a year. (05 Dec 2012)

External website: http://alcoholireland.ie/2012/welcome-for-return-o...

Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues, has welcomed the Government’s decision to restore excise duties to 2009 levels.

Alcohol Action Ireland Director Fiona Ryan said: “The Government’s decision is a welcome one. It basically rolls excise duty back to 2009 levels when it was cut by 20% to counteract cross-border shopping generated by the Euro and Sterling being almost on a par.

“These currency conditions no longer exist and so neither does the justification for that excise duty cut. Contrary to popular belief there have been only four excise duty increases in 18 years. There is still real concern over the widespread availability of relatively cheap alcohol particularly in the off-trade sector even with these increases as the base price is cheap.

“To put the estimated €200million in potential revenue from this excise duty restoration into perspective - alcohol-related harm costs the State an estimated €3.7billion a year almost the equivalent of what we pay back to the Troika.

 

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