Ireland to go ahead with minimum alcohol pricing
The Irish government is to forge ahead with the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol, despite earlier indications that it would bring in the measure at the same time as Northern Ireland.
However, due to political stalemate in Belfast, it is now expected that the government will press ahead with its plans to implement the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015.
A spokesperson for the Health Minister Simon Harris told the Sunday Times that he intends to implement the measure as soon as possible. However, retailers in Ireland are concerned that it could result in an increase in consumers heading north over the border to buy cheaper booze.
The Vintners Federation of Ireland welcomed the signs that government will is prepared to move forward with the plans. The organisation's CEO, Padraig Cribben said the move is needed to tackle the problem of below-cost selling.
"We have been campaigning for a decade now on minimum unit pricing, and we think it's time to move ahead and put in in place because there is no other remedy insofar as in the way the retail trade, particularly the big supermarkets, are operating," he said.