Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the fact that the current excise duty for an off-licence makes no distinction between off-licences that have a small volume of sales and those that sell large quantities of alcohol such as supermarkets; his plans to introduce a graduated fee structure based on sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28200/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Historically, flat rates of duty applied to the various licences for the sale of alcohol. That position was changed, however, by the Finance Act 1992, which introduced a new system of duty related to turnover for spirit retailers' on-licences (that is, pub licences). The duty for off-licences is still charged on a flat rate basis. The rates of duty for pub licences have not been increased since 1992, but the rates for off-licences have been increased during that period. Most recently, the Finance (No. 2) Act 2008 set the rate of duty for retailers' off-licences at €500.

Separate retailers' off-licences are required for the sale of the various types of alcohol products. A person wishing to sell the full range of products would require three licences (beer, wine and spirits), at an annual cost of €1,500. By comparison, a pub with a turnover of between €381,000 and €634,999 would be subject to an annual licence duty of €1,140. Licensing arrangements are being reviewed by the Department of Justice and Equality, with a view to modernising and streamlining them.