Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There should not be a necessary connection between increasing the price of beer, which has one particular target market, and that of gin. For instance, if a unit price is increased to 15 cent the price of a bottle of gin would go up to €30, in order to make a can of Dutch Gold almost €2 a can. Is there something to be said, and maybe we can consider this on Report Stage, for allowing different classes of drink to attract different unit prices? If the aim of the game is to stop people carrying slabs of beer out of supermarkets, the effect of the 10 cent rule is minimal. That should not necessarily imply that, if this power is used to increase the price of beer to €2 a can, as an iron rule the price of a bottle of spirits goes from €20 to €30. There is a rigidity in the section and the mechanism that could be avoided if it allowed the Minister to apply this differently.

I know that in another context different classes of drink are dealt with differently. In this section it seems to be an iron rule that the price per unit of alcohol applies right across the drink sector. Members of this House might feel more comfortable if there was a possibility of increasing the price of beer to approximately €2 a can while not increasing the price of a bottle of wine by a fiver or a tenner or not increasing the price of spirits by €10 from €20 to €30. Mathematically it is all fine but the Minister has handcuffed the unit price to alcohol in whatever shape it is sold. I know that many youngsters have naggins of vodka and gin in their handbags and back pockets, I am not naïve but if the Minister is serious about targeting abusive consumption of alcohol in some areas and if there is going to be a minimum unit price for alcohol, subject to its being permissible under European law and I think it probably would be-----