Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill, which is inching its way towards completion some six years after it was first proposed, the Government has backed down on a number of features of the original Bill. It seems the Minister for Health, along with some other parties in the House, is looking to reduce the size of the health warning on alcohol containers. Why is the Government doing this at a point when we know the evidence is very clear in regard to the link between several serious health conditions and overuse of alcohol? Why is the Taoiseach supporting this approach? People are talking about having this in Irish and the Labour Party wants to go even further and abolish it altogether. Surely we should stick with that basic warning, with a third of the label being devoted to a very clear warning about health concerns, as we did so successfully in regard to cigarettes.

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