Laws just announced could see a value bottle of supermarket vodka double in price.
The Health Minister's trying to cut binge drinking by setting new prices. A can of beer will cost at least €1.95, while a bottle of wine will set you back €8.60.
The minimum price for alcohol will be set at 10c/gram of alcohol, which means abottle of supermarket own brand vodka could more than double in price from 13 to 28 euro.
The Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said: “Ireland needs to change its damaging attitude to alcohol. There’s a huge difference between having a drink on occasion with friends, and indulging in regular binge drinking. The costs are huge: from the damage to personal health and to society, absenteeism, the burden placed on the health services, public disorder and violence, traffic accidents, and the associated mental health consequences."
“The evidence about Ireland’s drinking habits is shocking. Four out of ten drinkers typically engage in binge drinking. This Bill addresses alcohol as a public health issue for the first time by tackling price, availability, marketing, advertising, and labelling. By taking this approach and confronting the problem in a wide range of ways, I am confident that we can make a huge difference to public health. We have talked about these measures for long enough. Now is the time to make it happen.”
