• Alcohol Action Ireland call on government to retain the current level of excise duty
• Highlights the need to reconsider the introduction of a Social Responsibility levy on all alcohol
• Demands immediate enactment of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill and the Minimum Unit Pricing measure, given rising consumption and low cost of drinking recommended low-risk alcohol limits.

Alcohol Action Ireland today published its 2018 Pre-Budget submission, which had been earlier been presented to officials at the Department of Finance.

The submission outlines the principal arguments why government should seek to maintain the current excise regime on alcohol. Commenting on this matter, Eunan McKinney, Head of Communication and Advocacy, said:

“Ireland has a significant crisis with alcohol. Recent data regrettably demonstrates that our consumption level continues to rise. The central drivers of such high-risk consumption are price and availability and, in this context, given the scale of known alcohol related harms, it would be unwise now for our government to consider any lowering of current excise regime.”�........