Letter to the Editor: One pint, two price tiers
Sir,
LAST week it was announced that the price of a draught pint was going up again in the pubs, piling more pressure on a struggling trade, especially in country areas and even cities.
At the same time, a major discount store is selling 15 x 500 draught cans for €24.88 (ignoring +€2.25 Return Deposit). That amounts to 13.20 pints (15 x 500ml = 7,500/568ml [pint]).
This means a pint in a private house (home) costs €1.88 per pint (€24.88/13.20, ignoring the RD cost) compared to a pint of €6/€7 in a pub. The 23% VAT alone on a €7 pint is €1.31 – and that's before all the new increases.
To encourage people back into pubs and to enjoy a social life, the draught beers and stouts should have VAT at 13.5% .
The breweries and pubs should also be encouraged to reduce their prices or margins to match this VAT discount.
Reducing the VAT to 13.5% brings a €7 pint down to €6.45 or €6 pint to €5.53.
Draught from kegs reduces waste and improves sustainability. It also appears that breweries are happier selling more volume to customers more efficiently, and cheaply, through packs of cans than through pints in a pub. There has been no recent shortage of cans. Off licence sales results in a lot less VAT (tax) than through pints sold in a pub.
Fifteen cans (13.20 pints) at €7 costs €92.40 in a pub, creating €16.88 in VAT, as distinct from €4.66 VAT through a 15-can pack. Drinking at home encourages binge drinking and problems. It is a daily temptation.
House parties and drugs are now rampant all over Ireland and have taken over from the pubs. It's sad to see young people buying slabs of cans and bottles of spirits in off licenses instead of being able to afford to go for a pint to socialise and meet friends and new people.
Drink and drug driving and drug raids are the new norm in the media. Gone are the days when the court stories were for after hours drinking.
Drinking in a pub is a planned event. You would visit a pub a good number of times to drink 13 pints, and would not drink in between these visits.
The pub visit creates an outlet for people to chat, socialise more, and reduce loneliness, which is very big in Ireland at the moment. Pubs have music, dancing, pool, darts, cards and events.
It is also more than drink; it's about atmosphere, real craic and meeting people. It creates more employment as well, directly and indirectly. Irish pubs are also a huge tourist attraction – but only if we keep them open in Ireland.
When I first worked in a pub in 1977 – in Knock, Co. Mayo – a pint was about 55c (40p). The budget was always watched with interest to see what it was raised by (for example, 2p or 5p).
There were at least six pubs and three hotels in Knock, where there is only one pub now. Pubs in Ireland were a cash cow for the government.
While the government are not as dependent as much today for tax, all the breweries do now is increase their prices, especially in pubs, and it has the same effect.
The government just collects extra VAT. A publican has to be of good standing to get a drinks licence. You have get garda, fire office, tax office and court rulings, and you have to manage the pub properly.
Customers and young people are safe there. House parties have no control on the amount of drink, and are a potential drugs free-for-all.
Give pubs a chance to survive and thrive in communities all across Ireland and reduce VAT on draught beer to 13.5%.
Yours sincerely,
John Healy,
55 Cill Ard,
Bohermore,
Galway.
.