The Government has been urged to cut excise duty by 10% to help small and rural pubs that are under “tremendous pressure”.
A report by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland found that average alcohol consumption per adult fell by 2.1% in 2025 to 9.30 litres of pure alcohol (LPA).
The figure means that average alcohol consumption has fallen by more than a third since 2001, when consumption was at its highest.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Donal O'Keefe of Drinks Industry Group of Ireland said the figures are reflective of a country which has “extraordinarily high levels of excise on alcohol”.
“[Alcohol consumption is] down an incredible 36% from its peak,” he said.
“So, we're now consuming broadly in line with the European averages, but we pay very punitive excise.”
Earlier this year, the Government cut VAT on food businesses from 13.5% to 9%, in a bid to ease cost pressures on the hospitality sector.
However, Mr O’Keefe argued that small and rural Irish pubs are still under “tremendous pressure” and need urgent support.
“What we're calling on the Government to do is cut excise by 10% in the upcoming budget to support the sector,” he said.
Pints outside a County Clare pub. Image: Paul Quayle/AlamyAlso on the programme, Dr Sheila Gilheany of Alcohol Action Ireland called for the Government to increase excise duty to 15%.
“The reason we're calling for that is that these excise duties have not been changed since 2014,” she said.
“So, their actual value has now been considerably eroded by inflation.”
Dr Gilheany excise duty should better reflect the “extraordinary level of harm that actually comes from alcohol”.
“We know that excise duties, they bring in about €1.2 billion,” she said.
“That sounds like a lot until you actually look at, well, what does alcohol cost Ireland?
“It costs in the region of €14 billion annually; so, there's a massive gap between what comes into the exchequer from excise duties versus what's actually the real cost to Ireland.”
Main image: A pub in the Galway Gaeltacht. Picture by: Alamy.com.
