Martin imposes six-pint-a-week limit to fight binge-drinking

thejollyrodger

Martin imposes six-pint-a-week limit to fight binge-drinking
By Dan Collins
http://www.irishexaminer.com/
EACH Irish citizen over 18 years of age is to be given an annual alcohol quota equivalent to six pints, or four glasses of wine per week.

The Government move comes following widespread concern about binge-drinking and the worrying fact that we drink more alcohol than any other nation.

Under radical measures to counter our national drink problem, quantities of alcohol consumed will be recorded on an individual swipe card and those exceeding the limit, will be penalised by having to pay special penalties ranging from €100 to €10,000.



Health Minister Micheál Martin’s new drink clampdown initiative is based on a model which has been highly successful in Finland and Sweden.

The new laws will mean that nobody will be served alcohol in pubs, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets or off-licences without producing their swipe card which will be issued by the Revenue Commissioners.

Due to the ease with which the smoking ban was introduced this week, Mr Martin has decided the radical new drink law, which has long been considered by the Cabinet, should be introduced sooner than originally planned.

Last night, a senior civil servant in the minister’s department said the radical legislation would in fact be in place by the end of November next.

From then on, each Irish adult will be allowed the equivalent of six pints per week, or four glasses of wine.

“The minister believes that it’s crucial the alcohol quota system be up and running before next December and January which are traditionally heavy drinking periods for most citizens,” said Donal Ó Coileáin, chairman of the Oireachtas Health and Alcohol Legislation committee.

Mr Martin, whose no-nonsense approach to improving the health of the nation was well illustrated by his smoking ban, believes that too many Irish people consume too much alcohol.

“There are a number of health risks associated with drinking in excess of recommended sensible drinking limits. These include increased blood pressure, cancers of the mouth and upper digestive system, cirrhosis of the liver, and pancreatic and other digestive disorders. Alcohol abuse also plays a major part in accidents, violence, crime and other social disorders,” Mr Ó Coileáin said.

The new laws aim to reduce the number of adults drinking to excess by 25% within five years of introduction of the alcohol strategy. This is estimated to save €2.5bn a year nationally in terms of the total social, economic and health costs of excess alcohol consumption.

Failure to comply with the quota system will cost the excessive drinker dearly. For instance, a fine of €100 will be imposed on each of the next 10 drinks in excess of the weekly allowance.

After that the fines will be imposed on an upward sliding scale.

“Anyone who, say for instance, has more than 16 pints or 14 glasses of wine in a one-week period could face penalties up to and including €10,000. The swipe card, which is used already in the Swedish government’s state liquor shops, Systembolaget, is tried, tested and fool-proof. There will be no avoidance of these penalties,” Mr Ó Coileáin said.

thejollyrodger

someone tell me this is Aprils fool

Hairy Homer

Well Duhh!!!

magpie

someone tell me this is Aprils fool

As in "I've justed posted this long article and then realised its an April Fool"

sovtek

Happy April Fools Day!

Mossy Monk

i hate this April Fools thing

thejollyrodger

As in "I've justed posted this long article and then realised its an April Fool"

no like, this is a dumb ass idea and I know the government as like a bunch of retards and might like actually be thinking about it....

Hairy Homer.... duh lame ass for like reading it then ...

April fools sucks,,,, its such an irish thing ... for people with like way to much time on their hands... i cant belive that news paper like actually published it... that is SO annoying...


later

tricky D

also, fwiw online.ie has a story about creating alcohol free zones in pubs

SantaHoe

Lies made baby jesus cry

blondie83

I was worried there for a second, then I remembered what day it was! - it's just the type of thing McDowell would come up with though, stupid paper is giving him ideas:eek:

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by thejollyrodger
no like, this is a dumb ass idea and I know the government as like a bunch of retards and might like actually be thinking about it....

Hairy Homer.... duh lame ass for like reading it then ...

April fools sucks,,,, its such an irish thing ... for people with like way to much time on their hands... i cant belive that news paper like actually published it... that is SO annoying...


later

Yeah practical jokes and like fun are like so annoying. Why are you like doing this like shít like all the like time like?

thejollyrodger

im going to email these lame asses for actually publishing that crap....

thejollyrodger

Why are you like doing this like shít like all the like time like?

why dont you just back off dude? im so pissed with this thread

Dr. Loon

Ha ha ha.
I like can't like back off dude cos I like like taking the like píss out of like eejits.

magpie

like y'know

Mighty_Mouse

In fairness!!!!! How could you believe this!!! OMG talk about gullible!

Ste.phen

Originally posted by Mighty_Mouse
gullible

what does that word mean? it's not in my dictionary

magpie

It means 'like a seagull, big, noisy and not too bright'

BuffyBot

:rolleyes:


If anyone falls for that, I'll be very surprised...

Oh, wait!

thejollyrodger

I like can't like back off dude cos I like like taking the like píss out of like eejits

listen dude, im not down with that ok!!

and i went to school, jerk

Mighty_Mouse In fairness!!!!! How could you believe this!!! OMG talk about gullible!

who said like i did ? ...

Aprils fool is for lame asses who are dumb enough to keep this dumb ass thread going..

swiss

As April fools day jokes go, this isn't too bad. At least some parts of the media still have a sense of humor. 6 pints a week... pfffft! :P

Anyway, this is getting spammy. Time to get out the water cannon and lock this thread.