TÁNAISTE'S INTERVIEW WITH RTE ON COMPETITION AUTHORITY DRINKS REPORT

I welcome the report. It confirms what I believed for a long time - the consumers of alcohol in Dublin are paying more than the people in the rest of the country. They're paying between 6 and 10% more for alcohol in the Dublin area. That means they're paying 25p on the pint for example. So clearly I think it's important that we now have an independent report that confirms what I believe, and, what I think most people believed for a considerable length of time.

I would strongly favour the introduction of the recommendations of the Competition Authority. It would be good for consumers, good for competition and good for Dublin.

For some perhaps. But everybody has to look at it from their own perspective. The Government's perspective and my perspective is the consumer interest, the competition interest and clearly the impact on inflation. If we can reduce the price of alcohol in Dublin that has a positive impact on the rate of inflation as well. There is a whole host of reasons why we should implement the report. It will be a matter for the Government. In the first instance it will be a matter for the Minister for Justice to bring recommendations to the Government and a matter for the Government at the end of the day to make a decision. I think most members of the Government strongly favour competition, they strongly favour the rights of consumers. We have to look at this from the point of view of competition and consumers and we cannot allow any sectional interests to dictate what should happen.