Off-Sales Clampdown

[hiker]

Is it time to ban the sale of alcohol from supermarkets, corner shops and Service stations?

I feel the rise in alcohol abuse is mirrored by the rise in the number of outlets selling it. I feel that Supermarkets and corner shops and Service Stations are not suitable place from which to dispense this quite addictive and harmful drug.

Alcohol Dealers should be not only licensed but trained specifically to deal in this powerful drug.

A whole new set of standards should apply to the training, recruiting and monitering of the staff who work in the Alcohol Dealing area.

[Eddie Batt]

It wont be changed because there is too much money being made from it.About 2 weeks ago I was doing a favour for a friend -she has on off licence fairly close to her house.I couldn't believe the amount of blatantly under age kids walking around with bags of cans.Apparently the gardai are aware of the situation..

[rockofcashel]

Whatever about supermarkets.. I think there is no justification whatsoever, for selling alcohol in a garage/service station. It is absolutely ridiculous, and facilitates not only young people who shouldn't be getting alcohol anyway, but also people with alcohol problems buying wine at 8 o clock in the morning

But it won;t chane for exactly the reasons that Eddie has outlined, and a few more.

If we want to honestly tackle the incidences of abuse, and abuse of alcohol in this country, we could do worse that consider the Swedish "Bottlaget" model, where off sales are controlled by the Government themselves, are highly regulated, and at least cut down on the incidences of younger people getting their hands on alcohol. (It would also need some sort of civic responsibility from adults, not to buy alcohol for them)

[hiker]

Is there room for a cross party consensus here?

I'm a Democrat, RoC is Sinn Fein, not sure about Eddie Batt.

Is there any stomach for this in Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour or the Green Party?

[Inishowen]

Theres nothing wrong with selling alcohol in Service Staions. In many small villages in rural Ireland the petrol station is also the 'corner shop' and specialist off licences dont exist everywhere.

You are coming at the problem from the wrong angle. Adults should be allowed buy alcohol from a whole range of outlets. When an outlet is found to have sold alcohol to a minor there should be a minimum fine and the place should be shut down for a full week. That would soon put an end to it.

The other major issue is that unlike 20 years ago alcohol now tastes sweet in a whole range of products like alcopops. If it could only be supplied in certain forms such as raw spirits wines and beers it would reduce the quantity consumed.

[Munion]

The Swedish system isn't all it's cracked up to be. Gotta leave work now but i'll come back to this point later. I've a good amount of experience with Sweden, i've lots of Swedish friends and my mate is actually engaged to a Swedish girl.

Trust me, Sweden isn't some social-democratic utopia!

[hiker]

When an outlet is found to have sold alcohol to a minor.....

In the Swords Garda District, guess how many pubs, shops, services stations and supermarkets were fined, banned or otherwise for selling alcohol to a minor in 2005?????


None.

A senior Garda informed me that in his 29 years of experiance as a garda he has NEVER heard of licesned premises been refused a renewal for selling alcohol to the underaged.

This industry, for want of a better description, is incapable of policing itself.
It is also a very dangerous product that they sell and needs to be brought unter tighter control.

[cyberianpan]

Are new, more restrictive laws being proposed here on the basis that existing laws are not being enforced ?

Of course people will get flippant about laws that aren't enforced.

I assume that there is a problem with under age drinking - not a perceived problem ? Thus if Gardai are encountering drunk youths then make a condition of there being no charges for the youths to fess up the vendors. A reasonable level of examples will cut out all but the most reckless & dishonest of shopkeepers.

cYp

[eurocrat]

Restricting the sale of alcohol would harldy be a solution. Underage drinking is a serious problem in the US where the rules are quite strict (varis state to state, mind).

In contrast you can buy beer almost everywhere (at any time) in Germany. Inlcuding the swimming pool. The key is promoting a responsible attitude to drink. Greater restrictions may increase binge drinking and people are more inclinded towards high volume drinks when rescticions are in place.

On one hand we cannot tell adults to be more responsible with drink and at the same time treat them like children.

Also, it is time that we realised that if people get drunk it is their own fault and not some function of society. It is not up to Michael McDowell to keep people sober.

[Pax]

Is there room for a cross party consensus here?

I'm a Democrat, RoC is Sinn Fein, not sure about Eddie Batt.

Is there any stomach for this in Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour or the Green Party?

Are the PDs proposing a ban on alcohol advertising? Were they not part of this government that backed down from the industry over (iirc) TV advertising only to introduce a 'voluntary code of practice on alcohol advertising' ? You know the very same TV advertising which is directed at the teenage sector.

Alcohol Advertising Code a Laissez Faire Approach to a Serious Problem
http://www.youth.ie/news/press.php?id=157

...“Alcohol marketing plays a significant role in young people’s decision to drink and how they drink. The decision to allow the drinks and advertising industries to self regulate flies in the face of recommendations from the Government’s Strategic Taskforce on Alcohol, the Irish Medical Organisation, and the National Youth Council of Ireland” said Mary Cunningham, Director of NCYI and a member of the Special Initiative on Alcohol and Drugs at the Department of an Taoiseach. “It is proof that, when the protection of young people is compared to the commercial interests of the drinks and advertising industries, there is only one winner.”...