Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Social practices have changed significantly. Members will be surprised to hear that of all the excise collected from the drink trade, 23% comes from wine, which is massive. This is derived not from wine consumed in restaurants or pubs but from bottles of wine purchased in supermarkets and so on.

Another curiosity about wine, which applies to all applications of excise, is the charge applies on the volume. The proportional excise charged on cheap wine is very high but the proportion charged on expensive wine is not. The excess goes on the volume, not on the price whereas VAT goes on the price. That is a curiosity. I am conscious of the position of the trade. Many of the problems in the pubs in rural Ireland are not related to price. The Deputy knows the story and knows what is the problem. Social practices are changing as well. In my city, young couples tend to go out for a meal to a restaurant on a Saturday night rather than to the pub. There is quite a change in social practice and that must be taken into account by representatives of the vintners as well.

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