None of this was ever about curbing binge drinking. Not really.
The government have to be seen to do something, but they don't want a drop in revenue from alcohol sales either. Hell, tax revenue is down already, do you think they want to make things worse? What they really want is to have their friends on the VAI and LVA increase their market share at the expense of the offies and supermarkets.
Most of this nonsense is to help the publicans, but it's about as well thought out as every other piece of alcohol legislation in this country, so it won't work.
The VAI and LVA blame the smoking ban, the offies and the supermarkets for the drop in sales in pubs. Now, they can't do anything about the smoking ban, but they think that making it less convenient for people to get takeout will drive people back to the local. The problem is that offies and supermarkets are beating them on price, not convenience. People are drinking at home because drinks bought in an offie are a fraction of the price in a pub would charge. This is not because of below cost selling or anything else, it is because the pubs have been raising their prices way ahead of inflation and other factors for years. This has made the offies more competitive by comparison, so they have gained market share. It's simple economics and none of the changes this law brings about will make any difference.
All this trouble for a law that will inconvenience businesses and consumers, but achieve exactly nothing. Typical bloody Ireland.
