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AFTER THE LONG summer break politicians return to Leinster House this week, and attention is once again turning to the long-discussed tightening of Ireland’s alcohol legislation.
The Public Health Alcohol Bill has now been before the Oireachtas since 2015, or for about 1,000 days, and is set to enter the final stages on Wednesday. However a cross-party group of 13 TDs has submitted a number of amendments to the advertising and health sections of the legislation which Alcohol Action Ireland said could delay the enactment of the legislation further.
The lobby group has warned the delay will risk lives. In a statement spokesperson Eunan McKinney said:
Their actions are encouraging more alcohol sales – not less – because they place a greater value on the thriving commercial interests of the alcohol industry rather than the lives of those who today, and into the future, will be impacted by harmful alcohol consumption.
One of the most contentious items in the bill is a cancer warning which would be placed on all products. The drinks industry says it would make Ireland unique, as no other country in the world has similar labelling.
In a statement for the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) this morning, director Patricia Callan said:
The amendments that have been submitted are required to protect the reputation of Ireland’s quality drinks brands, to allow continued innovation in the drinks sector, to ensure brewery and distillery visitor centres can grow and to safeguard rural jobs and the economy.
Health Minister Simon Harris has already rolled back on the so-called booze curtain for smaller retailers, a measure which he hoped would reduce visibility of alcoholic beverages for younger shoppers.
Concerns, however, remain about the impact on jobs of restrictions on how alcohol is sold with ABFI criticising what it calls Alcohol Action Ireland’s disingenuous claim that TDs are putting the industry ahead of public health.
The claim is one McKinney denied:
At its (the bill’s) heart is a simple logic – if we are to tackle the harms of alcohol across our communities, we must reduce rising alcohol consumption, and so less alcohol products must be sold; if we are to slow future consumption, our children must be protected from early enrolment.
The bill, as stands, will prevent advertising on public transport of alcohol products.
The 13 TDs who have submitted amendments are; Bobby Aylward (FF), Peter Burke(FG), Declan Breathnach (FF), Pat Deering (FG), Micheal Collins (Ind), Michael Fitzmaurice (Ind), Peter Fitzpatrick (FG), Noel Grealish (Ind), Tony McLoughlin (FG), Carol Nolan (Ind), Kevin O’Keeffe (FF), Eamon Scanlon (FF) and Sean Sherlock (Lab).
The variety of submissions include a reduction in the size of the cancer warning on packaging to a requirement for all cautions to be written in Irish as well as English.
In a statement Minister Simon Harris’ office says it is a “Government priority that the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill be enacted as soon as possible”. The final stages of the bill are due to commence on Wednesday.
This bill is a disgrace, It has absolutely nothing to do with public health and is nothing more than a bailout to the publicans from FG who stated exactly that in their 2011 manifesto
“Supporting Irish Pubs:
Fine Gael recognises the importance of the Irish pub for tourism, rural jobs and as a social outlet in communities across the country. We will support the local pub by banning the practice
of below cost selling on alcohol, particularly by large supermarkets and the impact this has had on alcohol
consumption and the viability of pubs.”
Later they realised that wasn’t a good look so dressed it up with the lie of public health which there is zero evidence to support it will have any effect on.
@Ian McNally: pure golden codology…theres no appetite for this
Also notice they don’t let the fact that alcohol consumption has dropped consistently since 2005 stop them from lying about consumption being up. Something alcohol action ireland like to lie about as well by quoting sales numbers instead of per captia consumption figures.
@Ian McNally: a period when the cost of off licence alcohol reduced. Making a mockery of the rationale behind thus bill.
Nanny statism at its finest.
@Ian Breathnach: I taught that this thing was passed before they went away on their nearly three month long missing in action caper.
This bill is a waste of time. It will result in the majority of responsible drinkers having to pay more for a few drinks at the weekend while those with alcohol issues will continue to drink as much as they do now. It will also result in higher costs for those brewers who export out of Ireland as they will be forced to operate separate labelling lines.
Scrap this regressive bill
@john doe: Contact TDs
@Ian Breathnach: yes
What’s next – health warning bumper stickers on diesel cars ?
Will they put cancer warnings for “treated water” coming through the tap?
@SlinkyDog: why??
Worth noting, as always, that the “lobbyists” mentioned are almost entirely funded by the Irish taxpayer. The Department of Health is paying Eunan McKinney’s Alcohol Action Ireland about €300,000 a year to lobby it on alcohol issues.
Government has only one answer to every problem – make money out of it
These are mostly supply-side measures where what we have is a demand-side problem. There should be a levy placed on the drinks industry in order to fund addiction treatment. Professional, immediate and residential if needed. All we are getting is an endless argument over whether bottles of wine should be hidden from the view of children.
@Dave Slater: So Irish whiskey will have a cancer warning but Scotch will be healthy or maybe we will only put cancer warnings on the Guinness we sell in Ireland. What a joke
@techman: I presume it would apply to all alcohol sold here, but not to exported alcohol which would have to obey the rules of whatever market they were being sold in.
@Dave Slater: Hide axes and chainsaws too, maybe lawnmowers. Please … Someone think of the children
@Dave Slater: what about all the people with food addictions, will we put a tax on that also
I suspect this will fall foul of EU law quickly.
If you want to drink 10 pints a day, balloon up to 20 stone and die at 40 that’s your business. If we funded treatment and got children into healthy eating and drinking habits at a young age we would prevent these problems.
This is typical statism. In this case, it’s protectionism repackaged as public health.
Another nonsense “be seen to be doing something” nanny state bill.
I need a drink
Please yes FG save us from ourselves by making a posh bottle of brandy no more expensive (unit pricing) and making the average joe drinking a can or a low cost bottle from a retailer pay a whole lot more…
our wards in hospitals are being taken up every day and especially week ends from those who have overindulged in Ireland’s favourite tipple, it’s costing a bloody fortune, society and the taxpayer picking up the tab, the sooner this legislation is enacted the better for all of us ,but as usual FG show their colours, profit and business is much more important than the health of the nation .
@Anthony Gallagher: How will this stop problem drinkers who don’t care about the cost of feeding their habit? None of the price increases contained in this bill will ever make it into the public coffers either as it all goes to the off license or super markets as its a minimum price increase not a tax increase, so there will be no tax increase to offset the price of looking after the problem drinkers either. This is a garbage bill with no substance whatsoever.
@Ian McNally: As we don’t have any direct link between tax revenue and expenditure, we can say the alcohol industry (almost €1.4b raised) pays directly for 10% of all health services in Ireland. Also, 99% of people who drink do not take up any space in hospital wards. Ever. Anthony’s argument is pure nonsense.
@Gulliver Foyle: did you pick those figures out of your backside, absolute nonsense
@Ian McNally: you must be blind as well as stupid ,never mentioned problem drinkers ,anything that informs people is good ,the vintners must be working overtime to day ,them and their FG crones lolol
@Anthony Gallagher: id imagine youre a barrel of laughs
All this nonsense talk about the demon drink is putting a goo on me.
The Irony us that due to the two Dail bars it is highly likely that some of the TDs will be drunk while they cast their vote for this bill
Joke
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