IF YOU’RE A non-drinker or have ever been on anti-biotics, had kids in a pub or been a designated driver, you may have baulked at the price of soft drinks in Irish pubs.

The national average price for beer is €4.67, but filling a pint glass with fizzy orange can cost upwards of a fiver, with plenty of space for ice.

A report of tonight’s Consumer Show on RTÉ One (8.30pm) looks at the disparity in pricing between the two drinks.

The report calculated that the average mark up for publicans is 98 per cent on a pint of lager but it’s a much heftier 407 per cent on a 200ml bottle of soft drinks.

Fionnuala Sheehan from MEAS (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society) says that the pricing of soft drinks affects drinking patterns.

“Our message to consumers is about thinking about the amount that they drink and slowing down then the pace at which they drink that alcohol. And the ways you can do that is by interspersing your alcoholic drinks with water or with soft drinks or non-alcoholic cocktails.

“We would be keen that there would be a good choice offered to the consumer and they wouldn’t feel that the pricing of soft drinks is a disincentive to them.”

So, why the difference? It seems nobody really knows.

The Vintners Federation of Ireland, the trade body representing most pubs in Ireland, said its members offer a variety of options to consumers and a wide range of prices starting at €1.80 for a pub standard bottle.

Chief Executive Padraig Cribben said: “The consumer will make their choice as to what is good value for them and what is not.

“What’s really important for the consumer is the experience and the consumer is a lot more discerning about the quality of the experience than the actual prices being charged.”

Publican Gillian Prendergast from Murphy’s in Rathmines, agreed that prices across the pub trade are too high.

“I can understand why (publicans) charge what they charge, because there are huge operating costs in running a pub. But on the other side if you are a customer coming into a pub to have a soft drink, or for example a rock shandy which can cost €5, it is very expensive.”

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