The director of the Office of Consumer Affairs, Ms Carmel Foley, (ODCA) is showing her teeth. Criticised by the Consumers' Association of Ireland for taking only two prosecutions last year (the first year of Ms Foley's tenure), the past week saw the first in a series of 18 drink-related prosecutions, initiated by the ODCA, which will be heard in the District Courts before Christmas.

Pubs must display a 16-item price list at each of their entrances, and a comprehensive price list inside their counters, under the Retail Prices (Beverages in Licensed Premises) Display Order, 1999. This list includes stout (draught and bottle), ale (draught and bottle), lager (draught and bottle), cider (draught and bottle), whiskey, vodka, gin, carbonated beverage, carbonated beverage with a cola base, mixer, bottled water and wine.

In the past week the ODCA has taken cases against five pubs (three in Galway, one in Navan and one in Clifden) for breaches of the order. Last Monday the first prosecutions took place in Galway District Court, where Judge John Garavan fined Zulu's public house at Raven's Terrace £300 for not having the price lists displayed, plus £50 witnesses' expenses and £75 costs.

Two other pubs, the Front Door/Tomas O Riada at High Street and the Stage Door Inn, Woodquay, were fined £105 each, with £50 witnesses' expenses and £75 costs. All three pubs confirmed to The Irish Times they now had their prices on display. Later in the week a Navan pub was fined £225, after pleading guilty to six of nine counts.

Twelve more cases relating to the display order are listed for the courts before Christmas, as is one other relating to the price-freezing order. Eight of these relate to Dublin pubs.

Ms Foley says: "Drink is an important part of many people's lives. I want to welcome the fact that the courts are now processing these cases. It is up to the judge to decide whether there has been an infringement or not.

"It's simply a blow for the consumer in that the regulations are there for proper display. The consumer has the right to be informed." The process has only started, and there will be more prosecutions after Christmas, she said. This process shows the law is not to be flouted.

Consumers are concerned with the price of drink, Ms Foley said.

"We've had calls, letters and even people sending us receipts. Some people are very vigilant . . . They know what they're paying and they know when they are being ripped off."

The ODCA does not rely on complaints from the public: it is also actively policing the order. More than 2,000 inspections have been carried out under the order, and the process will intensify over Christmas, according to Ms Foley. "People can be confident that their rights will be protected over Christmas and the New Year," she said. The chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, Mr Dermott Jewell, said: "We must give credit where it's due. I am pleased . . . It is such a critical and important area for consumers . . . These cases are a warning to all. Regulations are fine, but it's the policing of them that's important. This proves that it is possible."

But Mr Richard Dunne, president of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, which represents more than 6,000 publicans outside the greater Dublin area, said the issue "doesn't deserve to get the national media coverage it has got. There are 13,000 licences in this country, and to speak of 17 prosecutions is a drop in the ocean. We have advised our members to comply with the order, and it seems 99 per cent are doing so."

The other order affecting prices in pubs, the Retail Prices (Beverages in Licensed Premises) Order, 2000, freezes the prices of the 16 drinks so that the maximum charged is the one effective on May 15th, 2000. The number of ODCA inspectors was substantially increased after the order came into force.

When signing the order, the Minister of State for Public Enterprise said it would be temporary and used to counter inflation.

This order, which lapses on January 14th, 2001, is the subject of a case to come before Dublin District Court on December 8th. As with the display order, the fines would be relatively low, but the adverse publicity will not please the publicans.

The price-freezing order has been strongly criticised by the Vintners' Federation of Ireland and the Licensed Vintners' Association, which represents publicans in Dublin.

At the time the order was introduced, Mr Dunne of the Vintners' Federation said the price freeze was "a crude and discriminatory measure". "In the long term it is unworkable," he said. "A price freeze order is ineffective and is not a panacea to inflation. It is unjust as it removes a publican's control over his or her own business." This week he said he hoped the order would not be renewed in January.

Reacting to inflation figures for August, the chief executive of the Licensed Vintners' Association said the price-freeze should be lifted as it had failed to halt inflation.

But the Consumers' Association of Ireland said the price-freezing measures had been successful. "We would support their retention," Mr Jewell said.

With the freeze in place for the festive season, consumers may wish to check the price they're paying as pub tills ring in the Christmas spirit. Any problems can be reported to the ODCA.