Minimum unit pricing won't stop problem drinkers buying alcohol, says poverty activist

The introduction of minimum unit pricing won't stop low income problems drinkers from buying alcohol but will push their families further into poverty, a local activist has said.

Introduced last Tuesday, the new legislation on minimum unit pricing for alcohol has seen the cost of a slab of some beers more than double in price, while the cost of many brands of wine and spirits have also increased significantly.

Activist Ken Smollen, whose food poverty charity provides food parcels to around 1,100 families across the midlands, including 300 in Westmeath, said that he did not believe that the price increase will have the desired effect of significantly reducing people's alcohol consumption levels.

Mr Smollen said that while it is “wonderful in theory” that a increase in price will lead to a reduction in consumption, it was “obvious” that the people who drew up and support the plan “don't deal with these problems on the ground”.

“I know families that I visit, working families, where there may be an alcoholic in the house. I know 100 per cent that they will not reduce their intake of alcohol, they will go without something else,” he said.

“It's not going to do what is written on the tin. We have to deal with reality here. People who consume alcohol [in excess] are going to consume the same amount of alcohol no matter what the price. It's like people who are addicted to cigarettes, they will buy them no matter what price they are or they may get them somewhere else.

“People may also change from drinking beer to drinking wine and getting two or three bottles of it. They might change the brand or type of alcohol they are drinking, but they will still consume the same amount of alcohol. They have a need to satisfy and they are going to satisfy that need,” he said.

Mr Smollen said that he visits a number of homes where having a drink in the evening helps the mother or father deal with the pressure they are under.

“Some of these people are not on social welfare, they are working families. Some are working in the health sector and are under intense pressure. They feel they need that glass of wine when they get home every evening. Those people are not going to do without that glass of wine or two in the evening. Something has to give and something else is going to suffer.”

Mr Smollen says that since the pandemic his charity has seen a significant increase in the number of families seeking assistance. Citing a 2018 NUIG study which estimated that there was 750,000 people in Ireland living in poverty, he says that the figure could be closer to one million today.

“The true figure will never be known. I visit some families and they tell me that the people next door are struggling but they will never look for help. Embarrassment, feelings of shame and everything else stops them. A huge amount of people are going without food to cover other basic necessities.

“I visit some ex-business people who are still being affected from what happened during the economic crash of more than a decade ago, even though locally they would be seen as being well to do,” he said.