Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

I do think Ireland has a drink problem but I don't think raising the cost will fix it.

I think it's time to accept that Ireland is a very expensive country to live in now and very difficult to afford for a lot of people.

The cost of putting fuel in the car + tax, the cost of home rent/ownership, getting taxed heavy on wages, the cost of living and now the cost to enjoy yourself ! Where does it end ? It's at the stage where its not an enjoyable place to live, which is already difficult with the state of the country, the scum all over Dublin and other places.

People used to say about cost of living in other countries being high etc but Ireland is now one of the higher countries in Europe and possibly the world too now.

I can't see Ireland been a desirable place to visit or live anymore and all things combined effecting tourism too.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the TV licence, like what the actual ! I've mentioned this to people in other countries other than the UK and they just can't understand it, they thought I was joking !

Have you ever tried to get HSE support for a mental health issue? Hospitalisation should be an absolute last resort. Try to get access to a basic service like counselling from the HSE and come back and tell us how easy it was.

Just on your edit, which countries do you mean? A lot of other countries have TV licences. Ours has been the same price for 14 years now.

votes? Not sure it would be popular right now. But I would say it is only a matter of time, look at what new Zealand are doing other countries might follow

Knowing what we know now about tobacco, no government would legalise it if it was a new drug just discovered. And governments worldwide are fighting to reduce the harms done by tobacco. Someone who never smoked will gain nothing from starting. BBC report below.

At the moment, 13% of New Zealand's adults smoke, with the rate much higher among the indigenous Maori population, where it soars to almost a third. Maori also suffer a higher rate of disease and death.

New Zealand's health ministry says smoking causes one in four cancers and remains the leading cause of preventable death for its five million strong population. The industry has been the target of legislators for more than a decade now.

It's science but it's not proper medical advice.

Any normal person with a healthy lifestyle and diet presenting to a GP and reporting that they drink within the guidelines issued by the HSE will be told that is ok but not to overdo it or words to that effect.

This is because GPs understand that the scare tactic of telling people that any alcohol is bad for you just won't work.

The majority of them drink themselves, I know mine regularly "binge drinks" ie. has three pints on a Friday evening.

Some drinkers won't be affected. So not 80%. I think punished is the wrong word.

What would you call it when a state pensioner who treats himself to a can of beer a night is faced with losing the €5 euro pension increase due to MUP?

Sounds a bit like punishment to me.

Punishment for what?

The bottle of wine I bought in Dunnes on the 20% discount offer for €5.48 before Christmas is now €9.75.

Sure what's €4?

What do you mean by fairly specific? Blame the shop for putting up the price. Nobody is forcing them.

Ah seriously?

That's fairly basic economics and was flagged here many times down the years.Youre also supporting my claim that you don't understand how a market works.I won't be blaming the shop,I'll be blaming MUP,because that is the cause.

Im beginning to think you can't grasp some rudimentary concepts or might even be trolling at this stage.

If so,well done,you got me.

It's fairly clear that he is having his pension increase taken away by MUP because he likes to have a can of beer per night.

What part of "MUP legislation is taking back his fiver" do you not understand?