A vote on the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill will now not take place until after Christmas.
Internal wrangling within Fine Gael has seen the Government defer a vote that would introduce minimum pricing for alcohol in Ireland.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on Thursday, Professor Frank Murray of the Royal College of Physicians Ireland said that the bill should go through as quickly as possible.
“We have a tidal wave of illness and death associated with alcohol use in Ireland,” he insisted.
He made the point that the practice of selling alcohol in convenience stores is not a practice common to all countries.
“Alcohol is no ordinary commodity and it should not be sold with sweets, eggs and tomatoes in the supermarket and in many countries you cannot buy alcohol and food together in a general store.”
“There has been a dramatic increase in the number of licenses to sell alcohol in the off-trade, mainly in shops.
“Alcohol should be treated differently to other products sold in shops as it is an addictive substance that causes about 1,000 deaths a year in Ireland. That’s the same as five plane crashes.”
According to RTÉ, minimum pricing would affect 14% of drinkers in Ireland.
A study by the Royal College of Surgeons and the Health Research Board found that, of the 3,187 Irish adults between the ages of 18 and 75 surveyed, one in seven Irish adults purchases alcohol at less than €1 per standard drink.
It also found, crucially, that the cheapest alcoholic drinks were favoured by the heaviest drinkers.
Lead researcher Dr Gráinne Cousins said “The primary objective of the introduction of a minimum unit price for alcohol is to reduce alcohol-attributable harm.
“Some opponents of minimum unit pricing are concerned that consumers using alcohol in a low risk manner will be punished with higher prices.
“Our findings do not support these concerns, as unlike tax or excise measures, the introduction of a minimum unit price would affect less than 14% of the population.
“More importantly, from a population health perspective, we have shown that a minimum unit price of €1 per standard drink will primarily target high-risk drinkers.”
