NOffLA Speaks: Minimum pricing
NOffLA outlines why the association is in favour of minimum unit pricing for alcohol. Martin Maloney reports.
Print16 April 2015
“It’s time to turn down the tap of cheap alcohol for problem drinkers and young drinkers,” according to Professor Frank Murray, a liver specialist at Beaumont Hospital. Professor Murray chairs a new Alcohol Health Alliance, set up by The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and Alcohol Action Ireland.
Following the publication of the Heads of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015, various parties have offered their views on the merits of the different aspects of the proposed legislation. Clearly, as a nation, we have to achieve a balance between individual responsibility and the interests of society and the common good. The National Off-Licence Association has long supported the concept of minimum pricing. This is in keeping with the association’s view that the sale of alcohol is unlike the sale of other retail products and should only be sold in specialist outlets.
The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children recently heard strong evidence supporting the concept of minimum pricing. Dr John Holmes, of the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group, presented unambiguous evidence on the benefits of this policy. “There is strong and consistent evidence that price increases reduce alcohol consumption and related harm. Minimum pricing is a targeted form of price increase as it tackles the cheap alcohol disproportionately purchased by heavier drinkers. We estimate it would not penalise low risk drinkers irrespective of income because they buy little of this cheap alcohol. High risk drinkers would, however, be substantially affected as they buy large quantities of the alcohol affected by the policy. Finally, these conclusions have been found to be robust to a range of alternative assumptions, data and analytical methods.”
The concept of minimum unit pricing (MUP) will make it illegal to sell, or advertise for sale, alcohol at a price below a set minimum price. The minimum price will be set “at a level which evidence shows will reduce the burden of harm from alcohol”. It will be set through secondary legislation (regulation) in consultation.
The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill will make it illegal to sell or advertise for sale alcohol at a price below a set minimum price. Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) sets a minimum price per gram of alcohol. The minimum price of an alcohol product would be based on the number of grams of alcohol in the product. The sale price of the alcohol product, in both the on and off-trade sector, could not be below this minimum unit price.
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