The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) has called for a 7.5% reduction in Ireland's excise tax rate on alcohol in Budget 2022.
The drinks and hospitality representative group said the excise tax rates levied on Ireland's drinks and hospitality industry are "totally unsustainable" in a post pandemic environment.
In its pre-Budget submission, DIGI said that Ireland is among a group of outlier countries - Finland, Sweden, and the UK - that charge high levels of tax on drinks products relative to the rest of Europe.
This is in addition to VAT charged on drinks also, it said.
"Ireland has the second highest overall excise rate in the EU and UK, the highest excise on wine, the second highest on beer, and the third highest on spirits, despite Ireland producing some of the world's most famous drinks products and considering the importance of drinks and hospitality businesses to our economy and Irish tourism," the group said.
According to DIGI, Ireland's beer excise is 11.4 times that of Germany, while Irish spirits excise is 4.4 times that of Spain.
The group said that a cut in excise tax would make an "immediate" impact on drink businesses.
Liam Reid, Chair of DIGI and Corporate Relations Director at Diageo Ireland said such a policy decision would signal a "solution and action-based approach" by Government.
"Reducing the tax burden on the industry will help the drinks and hospitality sector to rebuild commercial activity in all areas of the country and to recover total employment nationally and regionally.
"Employment generation is one of the most important policy issues for the next few years and the drinks and hospitality sector has a strong track record of national and regional job creation. It can deliver again," he said.
According to the group, the effects of a reduction would be also be felt "immediately" by domestic and overseas consumers, including tourists.
