Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Donnelly for his amendments and engagement on this. As I said to him directly, I know he put down these amendments in an effort to improve the Bill with respect to labelling and notification, and not for any other motive, as I saw wrongly attributed to him. As I already mentioned to Deputy Donnelly, amendment No. 8 relates to the requirement to have the health information on the labels of alcohol products in Irish and English. I am conscious that in order to achieve the objectives of the Bill, the provisions in it must be workable. We need to maintain the balance between what is beneficial to our citizens for the protection of their health - this is a piece of public health legislation and a new departure relating to alcohol - and the new obligations being placed on our commercial operators. The balance is to promote public health in a way that is proportionate.

We are asking businesses to work with us in changing our products and providing health information for the very first time. We are moving from a position where today there is no health information on the product to adding six new pieces of information. I understand this is a new approach and it will bring new burdens for business. If a requirement is added that information must be in two languages - Deputy Harty's point is valid - we will need different fonts and there is the potential to distort what we are trying to do in putting very clear information out there.

There is a further practical reality that is the main reason I am not in a position to propose accepting amendment No. 8. It is a reality referenced by Deputy Ó Cuív. If we were to make any changes to the requirement for health information on the labels to be in Irish it could delay the passage of the legislation through the Oireachtas and the enactment of the Bill. It would not affect the labels. Any additional requirement relating to labels would have to be notified and assessed at an EU level before enactment.

Deputy Ó Cuív suggests that either I or perhaps the Government of which I am a part do not care for the Irish language, which he of course knows not to be true. Nonetheless, in addition to the practical concern I am conscious that we must in a public health Bill ensure that information on the label is clear and effective. It must be the paramount objective. A study was commissioned from Amárach Research in August 2015 to provide recommendations on how to best communicate critical information through labelling on the risk relating to alcohol consumption. There must be an evidence base to this and we must ensure this is an effective way of communicating. The research indicates that the inclusion of the information in another language on labels served to confuse the message being relayed.

There are practical reasons arising from the EU's standstill period and we would not be able to pass the legislation as a result. It is something Deputy Donnelly and I have discussed. I do not propose to accept amendment No. 8. However, in the interests of compromise and accepting exactly what Deputy Donnelly is trying to do, I propose to accept amendments Nos. 10 and 13. These are sensible amendments and they require health information to be available in Irish as well as English on notices in licensed premises and on websites where alcohol products are sold online. I have also discussed with the HSE through my Department's own website, www.askaboutalcohol.ie, and all the relevant information there will also be included in the Irish language. I genuinely accept the importance of the Irish language and giving it prominence in the discussion. I propose the compromise would be that it would not be on the labels but on the website and the notices.

I have done a legal check on Deputy Donnelly's point about previous court cases. The very clear legal advice available to me is that the case was different because tobacco warnings related to an EU directive and what we are doing tonight is pioneering.

Amendment No. 14 proposes that data from health services and alcohol-related presentations at health facilities should be taken into account when making regulations on the health warnings and information. It is Deputy O'Reilly's amendment and the idea is that we would take that into consideration on labels, notices in licensed premises and websites that sell alcohol products. This amendment is very much the same model she used with regard to the minimum unit pricing discussion we had only a few minutes ago. It is a sensible amendment and I propose its acceptance. Therefore, I propose we accept amendments Nos. 10, 13 and 14. I am not in a position to accept amendment No. 8, with the most important reason being the practicalities involved in getting this legislation passed. There is also the concern about clarity of messaging on labels.

See this speech in context