The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, has proposed using the new Personal Public Service Number card issued by her Department as an age card for young people in pubs and off licences.
Ms Coughlan said last night she would be putting this idea to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, shortly as Ministers discuss possible ways to curb under-age drinking.
The computer-coded card, formally introduced last year, contains an individual's PPS number, date of birth and address.
"I remain convinced that if a reliable photo ID card is in place only miscreant retailers could continue to supply drink to children, damaging their health, probably their futures and possibly endangering their lives," Ms Coughlan told the Vintners' Federation of Ireland (VFI) annual conference in Letterkenny last night.
She said nobody could disagree with the recent comments by the President, Mrs McAleese, that Ireland's affluence had been squandered on "wasteful drunkenness and drug abuse, and is a problem which we tolerate far too readily".
The President's remarks had sparked a healthy debate on alcohol consumption, the Minister said. She believed the consultation planned between the pub owners and the Minister for Health about the planned smoking ban in pubs would address the vintners' concerns.
"There are, as you know, genuine fears, particularly among the 70 per cent of the adult population who are non-smokers, that environmental tobacco smoke - second-hand smoke if you will - is a carcinogenic; it is a danger to health that can and will kill."
Meanwhile, delegates at the conference said the Government was ignoring at its peril the experience of other countries where there has been a liberalisation of the licensing laws.
Ireland has the highest concentration of licensed premises in the world, yet the Government was now effectively demanding liquor licences for all cafes and coffee shops, said VFI president Mr Joe Browne.
Calling for a Government "rethink" on its proposals to liberalise liquor licensing laws, he said Ireland already has 13,000 licensed premises in a country of just 3.8 million people.
He said the VFI was determined to take action on "alcohol abuse and misuse" and has reconstructed its Responsible Serving of Alcohol (RSA) programme.
He reiterated the VFI's opposition to "happy hours", and urged members to desist from running drinks promotions.
On the problem of under-age drinking, he said increasing prices or decreasing licensing hours were not the answer to abuse among young people. "We must educate and inform those who are misusing alcohol and bring about a cultural change."