The price of a pint of Guinness is expected to rise by 15 cent across the State from June 1st, despite on-going legal action against vintners by the Competition Authority.
Diageo, the drinks giant that owns Guinness, confirmed yesterday it intended to raise the keg price by about €5.45, a figure which equates to about 6.2 cent on the price of a pint.
This figure is subject to VAT which brings the increase per pint up to about 7.8 cent. Traditionally the licensed vintners have then added on an increase similar to that imposed by the brewers, a figure which would bring the price of a pint up by 14 cents.
However, Mr Donal O'Keefe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), while stressing that any such action would be on the part of individual publicans, said yesterday that it was likely that the increase would be rounded up to 15 cent.
In December, in settlement of a case brought against it by the Competition Authority alleging price-fixing, the LVA gave an undertaking to the High Court that it would refrain from encouraging such activity. A similar case against the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) taken by the Competition Authority is ongoing.
Asked yesterday if the association was recommending the publicans increase their take on the price of a pint, Mr O'Keefe said "the LVA has no role in such matters. We'd love to but we can't."
Mr O'Keefe claimed the last price increase by publicans was 15 months ago in March 2003, when the price rose by "about three or four cents".
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, has suggested to brewers and vintners that they restrain price increases in the interests of competitiveness and tourism.
However, the Minister's appeal was dismissed by Mr O'Keefe, who said the Tourism Policy Review Group, which reports to the Minister, suggested last year that the Government reduce the price of alcohol through its share of VAT and excise duties. The group was so far unsuccessful in its appeal.
He said that among the EU, the Republic now charged the highest rate of tax on a bottle of wine, the second highest tax on beer and "the second or third highest tax on spirits".
Meanwhile, the IFA national grain committee said it was "incredible that Diageo and publicans were set to increase the price of the pint by 15 cent" , while malting barley growers were getting less than one cent of the €3.60 pint.
Its chairman, Mr Paddy Harrington, said "at a time when both the Greencore subsidiary Minch Malt and Diageo are passing on their increased costs to consumers and increasing their own margins and profits, malting barley farmers have been offered €4 a tonne less than they received last year".
