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AN ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING 315 off-licences in Ireland has appealed to the government to reverse excise duty increases and ban below cost selling of alcohol to prevent further business closures.
The National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) today launched its pre-budget submission, highlighting the loss of 3,000 jobs in the sector since 2008. Already this year, ten independent off-licences have closed their doors for good.
The first recommendation is that the government reverses its increases to excise duty which were enforced in last year’s budget. Last year the government said it would raise an extra €180 million but NoffLA said that targets are “dangerously below this target” with only €29 million extra being collected by the Exchequer up until May of this year.
The association said that this shows the excise duty is failing and added that “this poor performance is being felt on the ground” with those running off-licences reporting serious declines in sale volumes because of the higher excises.
In its submission, NOffLA said the Exchequer is currently losing out on a potential €21 million through “below cost” selling of alcohol.
Under this practice, retailers can reclaim VAT on the losses they incur on products chosen to be sold below cost, such as alcohol.
The association said today that inaction on these two issues could result in a further 15 businesses closing down before the years is over and possibly another 25 next year on top of that.
“Our members are based across the length and breadth of Ireland and provide much needed jobs to every area of the country,” said NOffLA Chairperson Evelyn Jones today. “If these jobs disappear, they won’t be replaced. If action isn’t taken, continued job losses will cause immense damage at a time when employment is scarce.”
“NOffLA members have always paid their fair share to the Exchequer, but the current unfair trading environment means off-licences will continue to close at a shocking rate and this has a hugely negative effect on the State’s economic well being,” she added.
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the reason people are turning to the below cost sellers is the high cost of drinks in the pubs, soft drinks especially are a real rip off in pubs, who can blame people for drinking at home, the reality here is that people started buying cheaper alcohol in supermarkets as they couldn’t afford to go to the pubs anymore, then they got used to having drinks at home, so the pub trade fell off, the consumer cant be blamed by off licence’s or pubs for cutting their cloth to measure, we all have a set budget to run the household, just like the government and if that means having your glass of wine of beer at home then so be it, let the government look at the huge tax they impose on drinks sold in pubs, this government has taxed people to the point of breaking, when you take money out of the peoples pocket to that extent, the end result is people will budget and go for the cheapest option, in a nutshell, its the end result of austerity.
Well said John. ..
Sorry to dig up an old article but I’m only reading this now. I think people maybe confused as to what below cost selling actually is as a lot people appear to be voicing their anger at the prices in pubs etc.
Below cost selling is a tactic used predominately by large supermarket chains. The idea behind it is that by selling, say, a bottle of vodka for less than they actually bought it they can entice customers in to their shop. Effectively the cheap alcohol is the carrot on a string. Your loses are then recuperated when the customer decided to buy their groceries during their visit.
Now although this is a good way to compete against other supermarket chains, it’s at the cost of our independent Off Licences who can’t afford to sell for less than they buy for.
NoffLA want the laws changed back to how they were before and stop large supermarket chains selling alcohol for less than they buy it from their suppliers. Although to the consumer it would ultimately mean no more ultra cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets, it would at least make it a much fairer competition between retailers, large and small.
In Temple Bar it’s 5.90 for a pint of Beer. The off license sells 8 Carlberg for 10 euro. It’s a no brainer. My social life is with friends and family in their homes. The pubs are too expensive.
Aldi n Lidl are the new kings of the off licence trade… Cheap n cheerful,
Love their German beers. Made without all the chemicals and very affordable.
what beers do you recommend from them man?
their beer is great, spirits are shockingly awful, especially vodka
Very uninformed their Ned…Aldiis gin won a silver medal this year on a blind taste test beating blue sapphire and Gordon’s , their scotch just won a gold medal . Can’t comment on the vodka as I don’t drink it , but the rum ,gin and brandy I have no complaints….oh and their champagne won out again against their more expensive rivals .
Washteiner is nice ;)
How many pubs are buying these underpriced beers and selling them at extortionate prices in their bars?? More than a few I’d day
no harm if a few offies close, there are way too many of them
Zero pity 4 them !!!
Supermarkets should never have been allowed sell alcohol. Root of all today’s problems.
Yes. Supermarkets selling sauce is the root of all our ails. Unemployment, criminal banking, daily government scams, the recent bad weather, the infestation of junkies and scobes on the streets, burglaries… the list goes on. What idiot decided to let supermarkets sell beer?
What idiot indeed……
Sure they don’t stand a chance with the pub cartel as often invested in and influenced upon by our political classes . Not that they deserve much sympathy either. Anyone remember our once proposed cafe culture? :o
You mean I’ll have to walk two streets further for my cans, ragin.
Many a pub and off license served my alcoholic ex without issue in this country. More worryingly was the off license within 5 minutes walk never refused him though he often arrived their daily and drunk. He once literally took an alcohol induced fit outside their front door and even though carted away in an ambulance for it they still continued to serve him. Yes they are not moral guardians and he could have always went elsewhere but they must take some responsibility for the outcomes. Alcoholism is rife in this country but poorly addressed as in creates massive revenue for the government. I love a few scoops as much as the next person but less off licenses ain’t such a bad thing :)
The Devils Urine
They should stop selling alcohol in places where under 18s can enter eg. Your local newsagents or shopping centre. Alcohol for home consumption should only be sold in off licenses.
Using your logic, we should also be taking steps to ensure that more food shops close because obesity is a major problem in Ireland. Just last week I saw a fat person buying FIVE pizzas in my local supermarket !!!… That same fat person most likely returns regularly to purchase even more of this evil food stuff that is the cause of so much misery and hardship in Ireland.
While the particular situation you mention is lamentable it doesn’t take away from the fact that people want to buy beer, wine etc. They’re not all raging alcoholics and they should not have to pay for the sins of those who have a problem with alcohol.
Below cost selling of alcohol by supermarkets is killing the both pub industry and the local office licence…. and with those industries goes the jobs that are supported by them. The bar staff, the cleaners, the delivery people, the tradesmen that build and maintain the premises, the musicians that play in them (yes I am one), the door staff, the taxi’s that ferry people to and from the pubs…. the list is endless. People don’t drink any less these days… they just do their drinking at home in front of the telly rather than in a socially interactive environment.
OK then so lets ban selling cigarettes in newsagents too, only available in off licences and pubs
Paradoxically let’s look at what this costs us through human suffering and medical interventions. I’m all for competition but a supermarket is less inclined to serve a drunk than a off or pub. I’m sure you get a little perturbed when a drunk spills his or her pint all over your equipment.
@Keith Wizzy I’ve had a few incidences of people falling over mic stands etc, usually more to do with cramped conditions rather than outright drunkenness. I’ve never had someone spill a pint on my equipment… In my experience, the vast majority of pubs will refuse to serve someone who is so drunk that they are stumbling around etc so it just doesn’t happen (there are always exceptions, but I rarely see it.. and I spend a lot of time in pubs).
I have nothing against alcohol being sold in supermarkets but I do have an issue with unfair trading laws that make it so ridiculously cheap to buy beer in a supermarket that the pubs are now closing in their hundreds because they can’t compete. The norm for a lot of people now is to buy their beer cheaply in a supermarket and then drink it at home in front of the TV…. and in the case of teens etc it’s even worse. They buy a few slabs of beer, bottles of vodka or whatever and sit at home in small groups ‘tanking up’ before heading out at around midnight to go straight to a night club. In this situation they are not only consuming more than they would in a pub, but they’re also out of view and can therefore run riot as they see fit.
The once social hub that was the local pub is now vanishing. Obviously I have a vested interest in promoting the pub as a place to gather and socialise but even putting that aside. I believe that It’s much healthier for people to drink in a social setting than it is for them to drink alone (or in pairs or whatever) at home.
I live in a rural area where the majority of people living around me would never be in the company of their neighbors if it wasn’t for bumping into each other in the local.
Just because there is a minority of people who abuse alcohol, it doesn’t mean that the rest of us should be legislated out of the pub.
Shouldn’t be ready available in tesco’s or etc… Designated shops only! At a certain price as people will not buy it in a grocery shop as its to pricey and then gradually fade out & designated offos will be the only place
Looks like I’ll be fermenting my own bananas and mangos for the weekends so…
Great news and I hope the pubs are closed as well,the country has enough of alcohol abuse.
Seemed to work well in the US. We should be rid of all pollinating plants as well! There are enough people with allergies.
I could talk about how prices in pubs and clubs are a huge rip off.. any kind of shot you get in a bar would cost you around 4-5euro just for 1 shot.. you can buy a naggin for 5euro in a off licence, i work in a bar and ive seen quite a few people with naggins in bags, putting some in a glass when bar staff arnt looking, some poeple dont even care if they are seen doing it. same story with pints.. 1 pint is around 4.50+. yet you would get 4 cans in some off licences for 5euro. another thing whats with closing off licences at 10pm, needs to be changed!
You wonder why people bring drink in their bags when some nightclubs were charging up to 15 for a red bull and coke in the boom times. The only difference now is people are still drinking more before they go out. Before you would go to a pub from 7pm then afterwards to a knight club which would charge 20 yoyos to get in. That was the time people started drinking at home before they went out and it’s now the norm. People are drinking at home now then off to night clubs. The pub is loosing out
I love cans.
Below cost selling, destroys fair business competition
@ Michael Fagan, do you own a business selling alcohol ?
Does he have to?
I ran a Fruit and Veg business and below cost selling by the larger chain down the street destroyed it. Of course, once I shut up shop the below cost vegetables ended.
Michael Fagan has not answered my question, if he is not the owner or person running a business selling alcohol i will gladly take back my comment, however if he is, then my comment stands, are we all expected to absorb the austerity and still pay top dollar for alcohol while an alternative is available, only those who can afford to pay top dollar do, the rest of us have to seek the alternative, i would much prefer to have my cans of beer at home and still pay my electric bill that go to the pub and live in darkness, as long as the people are squeezed half to death this will only get worse, its called reality
Whether or not Michael Fagan sells alcohol is a bit of a moot point – his point still stands. Below cost selling does destroy fair competition, distorts the true price of products and is ultimately unsustainable. The bigger players can afford to do this (for now) but once their competition is decimated there will be no reason to continue the practice. With little or no competition left, there will be nothing to prevent them putting any price they please on alcohol, veg, etc.
With regards pubs (and your comment at the top), should you not be attacking the Vintners rather than NOffLA?
NOffLA represent off-licences, The Vintners Association represent pubs.
Pubs are indeed expensive in Ireland and could do with a bit of an overhaul on the price side (although, to be fair, wages, rates, electricity, VAT, etc should be taken into account when calculating how much a pub makes. It would be unfair to say product x costs 2 euro, pub sells it for 4 euro, therefore pub makes 2 euro profit.).
Hi Tetchy, i except the points you make, however all business have overheads, i understand that pubs can sometimes have larger overheads than others but the issue here is below cost selling and in MHO as long as the public are crucified with tax’s and charges they will seek the best deal, instead of everyone seeking to defend one side or the other the solution in my opinion is to level the playing field, starting with the governments tax on business who sell alcohol, if it was not so expensive to go to the pub then maybe more people would stop drinking at home and go to the pub, but for consumers like me if i want a drink, what do i do ? i cant afford the pub if i want to stay on top of my household bills, so i will return to the low cost sellers until such time as my financial situation improves, i cant see that happening any time soon so what should i do, stop living ?, the low cost seller is the last resort of people on lower incomes, and those of us on lower incomes still pay our way in tax’s and charges just the same as those on higher wages.
€9.40 for an Irish coffee pub between Quays and Pearse st note not Grafton st t Temple Bar where expect to pay more. This was at 5 on a Friday evening. Coffee was lousy too
Yea goodby. So what.
Looks like the Government intend to make Ireland drink-free within 5 years with the exception of the
Dail Bar.
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