Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, I must leave shortly as I must attend another meeting. I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations. This is a complicated issue and I would like some factual information. Do the witnesses have information on the total value of alcoholic drinks sold in Ireland every year? What is the value of imported and domestically-produced alcoholic drinks? What is the value to the economy of alcoholic drink exports? If we had this information, we could quantify somewhat the impact of taxes. Tax is put on imported as well as domestically-produced alcoholic drinks, but domestic excise tax does not go on exported drinks and has no effect on the ability of people to sell worldwide.

I have been involved in tax formulation. We cannot walk away from the fact that abuse of alcohol is a major problem in the country and costs our health system and economy billions. More importantly, it causes huge misery in society. It is fair to state it has been a serious contributory factor to high levels of suicide. To think this is a one-way street is simplistic; it is a highly complicated subject and we as politicians must consider every side of the story. Of course the drinks industry it important for the economy, but if we are honest it is also an important drain on the economy. When we make decisions, we must do so in the cold light of day and take everything into account. In defence of my colleagues of all parties, we have been trying for many years to grapple with the problems caused by alcohol. As constituency politicians, all of us have seen the violence and misery heaped on people by the abuse of alcohol. I cannot forget this and put it out of my mind when I come to a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A politician must consider all of the consequences of his or her actions.

I have huge time for publicans. If I had a choice between having people drink at home where there is no control and young people buying all types of alcohol and consuming it in strange places, or having people drink in the controlled atmosphere of a pub, I would much prefer the latter where, from my experience, publicans try to act responsibly. I favour shifting the burden of tax on alcohol and see much more tax, such as a packaging tax, on alcohol in off-licences. We should encourage people to drink in a social way with more controls.

Another issue that must be faced when collecting money is what should be taxed. Germany was mentioned, but it probably has much higher taxes on private properties than we do. A government must consider whether to place tax on items which are socially positive to tax, such as cigarettes. Many people agree this discourages smoking. When I consider taxes on alcohol, I would like a tax which would stop young people walking out of shops with van-fulls of alcohol under their arms, causing them and those around them harm.

I am in favour of curbing sponsorship by drinks companies and banning some of the advertising which is very focused on young people. Such advertising creates a view that one cannot have a good time unless one is half langers. I have argued this point previously with the drinks industry. I understand the importance of the drinks industry and I am not a teetotaller. However, the presentation we heard was quite simplistic. When I make decisions or recommendations, or have an input as an Opposition parliamentarian, I must be absolutely clear that I will take a very cautious and balanced view on the issue because of all the issues I face every day of the week, this is not a one-way street. If we remove tax from drink we could rebalance it significantly, but what does the drinks industry suggest we tax in replacement? If tax is removed from drink, something else will have to be taxed because the Exchequer does not have enough money to begin abolishing taxes. We as politicians should be very open about the fact this is the equation. I am interested to hear from the witnesses what they think we should tax as an alternative to removing the total tax take from alcohol, particularly taking the huge social cost into account.