The Oireachtas Health Committee says a bottle of wine should not cost less than €10.

The cross-party group is due to publish a report today, calling for the government to set the minimum price for a unit of alcohol at €1.10.

That is the upper limit of what is currently being considered and could see the minimum price for a bottle of wine set at €10.

The proposal come just days after Eurostat figures showed Irish people are already paying 70% more for alcohol than others in the European Union.

The numbers show the next most expensive countries are the UK (65% more) and Finland (36% more).

Professor Donal O'Shea is a consultant endocrinologist at St Columcille's Hospital.

He told Newstalk Breakfast the measure should be introduced to protect public health.