Mr. Padraig Cribben:

May I make one additional point in regard to the issue raised by Deputy Dessie Ellis. In regard to the 28 cent tax imposed on the pint in the past three years, the publican had to pass it on. The same rate of excise duty applied to the multiple retail sector but only a fraction of the 28 cent was passed on. Why? It is because it was able to put it on to other staple items whether milk, bread, nappies, biscuits or whatever. What happens when excise duty is increased is that the gap is widened between the on-trade and the off-trade because the off-trade, as in the supermarkets, has many other products on which it can increase the price so that it can use alcohol as a footfall driver.

That is often portrayed as being consumer friendly; it is quite the opposite. In fact, what they are doing is increasing the price of products that one must have so that they can have the headline figure for alcohol. It is a figure that is worth noting.