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Legislation to Tackle Alcohol Misuse Approved

Health Minister Leo Varadkar has today published far-reaching legislation to tackle Ireland’s ongoing problem with alcohol misuse and reduce consumption. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill treats this as a public health issue for the first time and aims to reduce the damage that alcohol causes to individuals and to society. Its goal is to reduce average annual alcohol consumption in Ireland from 11 to 9.1 litres per person by 2020.

Speaking at the formal launch, Minister Varadkar said:

Ireland needs to change its damaging attitude to alcohol. There’s a huge difference between having a drink on occasion with friends, and indulging in regular binge drinking. The costs are huge: from the damage to personal health and to society, absenteeism, the burden placed on the health services, public disorder and violence, traffic accidents, and the associated mental health consequences.

The evidence about Ireland’s drinking habits is shocking. Four out of ten drinkers typically engage in binge drinking. This Bill addresses alcohol as a public health issue for the first time by tackling price, availability, marketing, advertising, and labelling. By taking this approach and confronting the problem in a wide range of ways, I am confident that we can make a huge difference to public health. We have talked about these measures for long enough. Now is the time to make it happen.

The Bill sets out measures in the following areas:

  • a minimum unit price of 10c per gram of alcohol in alcohol products, to eliminate very cheap alcohol from all stores and shops;
  • structural separation of alcohol products from other products in outlets, either by containment in a unit or a separate area of the store, so that it’s not sold like a normal groceries product;
  • Prohibition of price-based promotions and tougher restrictions on targeted promotions such as 'happy-hour';
  • Health warnings and calorie labelling on alcohol products, with corresponding warning signs and information in pubs and off-licences;
  • Regulation of advertising, marketing of alcohol and sponsorship, with criminal sanctions applying for the first time;
  • An enforcement regime with inspections by Authorised HSE officers and penalties for non-compliance, including fixed payment notices.

Read the full press release here.