Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr Bobby Smyth, a board member of Alcohol Action Ireland, said that per capital alcohol consumption is still 50% above what are considered healthy levels.
He said: “It would be great if the Department of Finance, which has come up with a whole bunch of additional taxes for beleaguered citizens, could come up with some mechanism for extracting more tax revenue from the off-trade sector.
“Despite the fact that drink costs €3.7bn in alcohol-related harm, we only take €2bn in tax from drinkers, so it does seem odd that as a society we seem unwilling to ask drinkers to pay for the costs of the consequences of their own behaviour.”
The alcoholic drinks industry has said consumption is falling, but Dr Smyth said that was a misrepresentation of the facts.
He said consumption fell in 2007, by about 15%, but it has been static for the past five years.
