Survey reveals Irish men can reach their recommended low-risk alcohol limit for just €7.65 a week

The survey also revealed the cheapest alcoholic drinks currently available in Irish supermarkets.

Conor Heneghan

Women can reach their recommended low-risk alcohol limit for under €5 per week.

A survey carried out by Alcohol Action Ireland has revealed that it is possible for a woman to reach her weekly recommended low-risk limit of 11 standard drinks for €4.95 and for a man to reach his weekly recommended low-risk limit of 17 standard drinks for €7.65.

The annual price survey, carried out in July, was part of Alcohol Action Ireland’s 2018 Pre-Budget submission, which was published on Tuesday, having earlier been presented to officials at the Department of Finance.

The low-risk limit figures in the survey are based on the purchase of the cheapest alcohol available in the off-trade (scroll to bottom of the page for further details), with Alcohol Action Ireland saying that strong and cheap drinks are favoured by the heaviest drinkers who generally seek to get as much alcohol as they can for as little money possible.

They are also favoured by young people, who generally have the least disposable income, are more price sensitive and have the highest prevalence of binge drinking.

In the submission, Alcohol Action Ireland demanded the immediate enactment of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill and the Minimum Unit Pricing measure, reporting that the estimated cost to Irish society of problem alcohol use is €2.35 billion.

Commenting on the submission, Eunan McKinney, Head of Communication and Advocacy with Alcohol Action Ireland, said: “Ireland has a significant crisis with alcohol. Recent data regrettably demonstrates that our consumption level continues to rise.

“The central drivers of such high-risk consumption are price and availability and, in this context, given the scale of known alcohol related harms, it would be unwise now for our government to consider any lowering of current excise regime.”

As part of the survey, Alcohol Action Ireland detailed how both men and women can reach their weekly recommended low-risk alcohol limit for under €10 while drinking wine, spirits, beer and cider.

For adults, the weekly recommended low-risk limits for alcohol consumption are:

Men: 17 standard drinks (168 grams of pure alcohol) or less, spread out over the course of a week, with at least two to three alcohol-free days.

Women: 11 standard drinks (112 grams of pure alcohol) or less, spread out over the course of a week, with at least two to three alcohol-free days.

Men, for example, can reach their weekly limit for €9.52 while drinking wine, €9.52 drinking cheap spirits, €7.99 drinking cheap beer and €7.65 drinking cheap cider (see details below)

Women, on the other hand, can reach their weekly limit for €6.16 while drinking wine, €6.16 drinking cheap spirits, €5.17 drinking cheap beer and €4.95 drinking cheap cider (see details below).