Drink prices are likely to rise in the next number of months due to cost increases in the pub industry, the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) said today.
However the VFI has denied a report in today's Irish Examinerthat the Federation, which represents over 6,000 pubs outside Dublin, had confirmed its members would be increasing prices over the coming weeks.
A spokeswoman for the Federation said it has not made any definitive statement on an increase in drink prices. She also said the Federation has no knowledge of the 6p figure mentioned in the report.
Meanwhile Mr Tadg O’Sullivan, VFI Chief Executive, said: "A number of our members have reported significant cost increases over the past six months in areas such as labour, insurance, rent, rates and local authority charges etc, and so it is likely that prices will increase at some stage in the future."
Ultimately, the VFI said, it will be up to individual publicans as to whether or not to increase prices as each pub is a business in itself.
The issue of drink prices has again come into public focus following the expiration of a six-month Retail Prices Order which the Government put in place last July as an anti-inflationary measure. The order applied to 16 alcoholic drinks ranging from pints to shorts.
The office of the Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Tom Kitt, today said both the Minister and the Director of Consumer Affairs will be keeping an eye on drink prices.
A spokeswoman said that although there are no regulations in place to ensure prices do not spiral, the office of Consumer Affairs will monitor the situation not only checking drink prices but also ensuring that all licenced premises have price lists on display.
The Director of Consumer Affairs Office has fined seven pubs since July for breaching the price-freezing order or failing to display price lists.