Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I absolutely support the objectives of the Bill to tackle alcohol misuse and underage drinking. However, I have some concerns about the labelling and advertising provisions in the Bill, which I believe will not achieve their public policy objective but which will seriously hamstring a thriving indigenous rural-based sector and affect rural investment and jobs. Balance is a word lost in this case. These amendments include the introduction of mandatory cancer warnings on all alcohol products sold in the Republic of Ireland and a requirement that health warning labels must make up at least one third of dedicated labelling space of all alcohol products sold in the Republic of Ireland. I believe we need to balance the objective of the Bill with the need to protect the growing Irish craft beer, whiskey and gin industries, including associated tourism.

The drinks sector supports the employment of 204,000 people in this country. This includes brewers, distillery workers, suppliers, farmers, distributors and those working in the hospitality sector. The sector generates a national wage bill of €2.9 billion, purchases over €1.1 billion of Irish products annually, exports goods worth more than €1.25 billion and provides the State over €2.3 billion through excise and VAT income, as well as hundreds of millions in income tax, PRSI receipts and tax on profits every year. Ireland exports drinks products to 130 markets worldwide, reinforcing our reputation as a premium food and drinks producer. Four years ago there were four whiskey distilleries in Ireland.There are now 18, with an additional 16 in planning. There are also approximately 100 microbreweries operating in Ireland today.

The advertising and labelling measures are not supported by evidence in regard to decreasing misuse and will severely constrain the ability of small craft breweries and distillers entering the market. Before going into greater detail about the labelling and advertising provisions, I would like to refer to one distillery in particular. The Shed, owned by Mr. P.J. Rigney, is a handcraft distillery in the rural village of Drumshanbo, County Leitrim. Mr. Rigney's business was launched, as I understand it, by the Taoiseach, and he has sent me an email, which he has given me permission to read here today. It states:

I am deeply unhappy with [the Government's] approach to this bill, the lack of consultation & the propagation of outdated stereotypes & suspect research on alcohol consumption & its health affects provided by lobbyists in the health sector some of whom appear to have an extreme & narrow agenda. I am particularly concerned with the changes to advertising & labelling, some of which is pure nonsense & will affect our investment & jobs in Leitrim. We hope to achieve planning for the enhanced new visitors experience next week [for] Drumshanbo. I am considering cancelling the project & will have no choice but to put the cause of the cancellation at the foot of this bill unless [common] sense prevails and [the Bill] is balanced.

The Shed Distillery employs 18 people and will add 20 more if their visitors' experience centre goes ahead in Drumshanbo, where there is a need for jobs. The risk is a €2 million investment and 20 jobs at the very least in a rural area which needs these jobs badly.

The distillery will link with local hotels, the Shannon Blueway and Arigna to bring tourism to the area. All of that will be put at risk. Of the company's 18 employees, 16 were previously on the live register. Some of them were unemployed for up to eight years. They are wonderful staff and are keen to learn. In conjunction with its US distiller, the Shed has trained wonderful local staff with zero previous experience to become world-class distillers from a point of zero. All of this has happened in Drumshanbo. Why should the company invest if it is being undermined by the Government in the form of this extreme and unbalanced Bill?

In my home town of Ballymote, there is a micro-brewery which has been operating for approximately four years and which employs 20 people in an area where people have no real opportunity to gain employment. Another small micro-brewery in Sligo, Lissadell brewery, employs 18 people. Those are brave individuals who are trying to do something for their local areas by creating employment where previously there was none. In the plan for the period 2020 to 2040, there is no mention of the north west. Sligo, Donegal, Letterkenny, Cavan, Monaghan and Roscommon are totally ignored in that plan.

Section 12 of the Bill provides for the introduction of new labelling requirements in respect of alcohol products. Labels will include a warning on the danger of alcohol consumption, a warning on the danger of alcohol consumption when pregnant, a warning on the link between alcohol and fatal cancers and information on calorific content and the quantity of alcohol in grams. The Minister has complete discretion on the content, form, size, colour and prominence of these warnings, which he can unilaterally introduce without any consultation with the drinks industry or other relevant stakeholders. We are all human and we would all agree that people should be made aware of the dangers of alcohol. In addition, we all want people to drink less. Section 12(10) also states that at least one third of the printed materials will be given over to the health warnings and outer packaging as well.

The Minister accepted two Opposition amendments in the Seanad, one of which was to include cancer warnings on all alcohol products. We cannot disagree with that either but it is about achieving a balance. No other country in the world has mandatory cancer warnings on alcohol products. Such a measure applies a stigma to products produced in Ireland and gives a clear advantage to competitors abroad who are not required to carry such labels.

According to DKM Economic Consultants, who published a report, Socio-Economic Impacts of Proposed Regulations under the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, specific Irish-only labelling will impose additional costs on producers and will result in significant additional costs and logistical difficulties for businesses operating in and importing to Ireland, which represent a barrier to trade in the European Union. Industry sources indicate that the cost of redesigning a single label for large-scale manufacturers is approximately €14,000 while the entire suite of labelling for a single product line, including front and back labels and outer packaging, is approximately €50,000. This is a cost that small brewers, micro-brewers and small distilleries trying to get off the ground cannot afford. Imposing Irish-only labels puts Ireland at regulatory divergence from everywhere else in the EU and constitutes a barrier to trade.

The Bill will make Ireland one of the most restrictive countries in the world for marketing alcohol products. The advertising restrictions will make it difficult for new distilleries and breweries to market their products and compete against established brands. The advertising restrictions will give an unfair advantage to products or brands that are well established within the Irish market. Small and new alcohol producers will be placed at a major disadvantage in terms of brands. The Bill will stop product innovation in Ireland, which will reduce consumer choice and competition. Furthermore, adverts for visitor centres that contain the name of the brand will be severely constrained. Over 2.5 million people visit breweries and distilleries here annually.

Section 13 imposes significant restrictions on what can appear in advertisements and section 14 imposes significant prohibitions on where advertising, particularly outdoor advertising, can be placed. These restrictions will severely constrain how new brands can be advertised and promoted and will give an unfair competitive advantage to established companies. Those restrictions will damage competition and have the potential to decimate whiskey and gin tourism in this country.

In section 2, advertising is defined as any form of commercial communication with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting an alcohol product and includes the name of any brand of alcohol. The Bill does not contain any exemption for Irish whiskey, gin, cream liqueur or distillery visitor centres. That is a mistake. All of that means that the section 13 and 14 restrictions will apply to any advertisement for any Irish whiskey distillery visitor centres that contain the name of the whiskey brand produced there. For example, visitor centre advertisements will not be able to contain images of people or a suggestion of a storyline relating to alcohol. Outdoor advertising will be severely limited and advertisements will be prohibited in train stations and at bus and Luas stops. The Bill will simply shift advertising revenue away from Irish media towards international, non-Irish regulated media organisations that broadcast freely in this country.

It is possible to balance the Bill without undermining the important objectives it seeks to achieve. We have already made significant

progress in the absence of such unbalanced measures. According to the World Health Organization, WHO, alcohol consumption in Ireland has fallen by 25% since 2005, during which time the alcohol industry has been operating to strict voluntary codes in the context of advertising. Furthermore, in October 2017, an iReach consumer poll of over 1,000 respondents found that only 27% of respondents believe the measures proposed in this Bill will be effective. We need to seriously examine it again.

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