The National Off-Licence Association (NOffLA) has today welcomed the statement from Minister for Health Simon Harris that he will seek a revised decision from Cabinet on the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) this year.
On the one year anniversary since the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill’s passage, in a statement NOffLA said that it is calling on the Government to uphold the ambitions of the Bill and ensure MUP is introduced as a matter of priority.
“NOffLA has long called for the introduction of Minimum Unit Pricing in Ireland alone," Evelyn Jones, government affairs director of NOffLA said.
"Our members indicate overwhelmingly their support for its implementation in this jurisdiction alone”.
Below Cost Selling Reduced
MUP would also significantly reduce the scale of below cost selling of alcohol in Ireland.
Below cost selling results in an annual loss to the Exchequer of €24 million through VAT reclaims, the group highlighted.
“MUP is also likely to be largely budget-neutral, given that it will significantly reduce the levels of below invoice cost selling, thus denying retailers from VAT reclaims," Jones added.
"Most products sold below net invoice cost will be banned, given that this price point will also be below the Minimum Unit Price”.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
