Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge that the Deputy, in bringing this Bill before the House today, is motivated by public health concerns and reducing the impact of alcohol harms on our society. The Government shares that motivation. However, the Government is opposing this Private Members' Bill, which seeks to amend our Public Health (Alcohol) Act, because there is not enough evidence at this time to determine the impact of low- and no-alcohol products and their promotion through advertising. It is also being opposed on the grounds that the way the Bill has been drafted could lead to unintended consequences that may not be in the best interests of public health.

I will now outline the objectives of our Public Health (Alcohol) Act. It aims to: reduce alcohol consumption to 9.1 litres of pure alcohol per person per annum; delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people; reduce the harms caused by the misuse of alcohol; and regulate the supply and price of alcohol in order to minimise alcohol-related harm. These aims were developed because we recognise the harms to health that alcohol causes, as well as the significant costs to the public purse. Adults should be able to make informed choices about their drinking. Our children and young people must be protected, as they are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of alcohol. Since the enactment of our Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, the trends in alcohol consumption show that we are having success with these aims. Alcohol consumption in Ireland in 2025 was an estimated 9.24 litres per capita. This reduced from 10.8 litres in 2019, which is significant and part of a larger decline in recent years. That said, we cannot be complacent because we have not yet reached the goal of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, which is to reduce consumption to 9.1 litres per person, based on the OECD average.

We must also note that the Healthy Ireland Survey 2025 found that 29% of adults did not consume any alcohol in the previous 12 months. This means that our per capitaestimate is likely to be underestimating the actual amount consumed by the 71% of the population that do drink alcohol. The 2025 Healthy Ireland survey also found that 26% of the population binge drink and 36% of our population drink alcohol at a harmful level. Harmful drinking rates are decreasing but remain high and are a concern.

When it comes to our children, our 2024 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs found positive trends compared to their previous 2019 survey. According to the 2024 survey, 66% of 15- and 16-year-olds surveyed had consumed alcohol in their lifetime, which was a decrease from 73%. The numbers reported as having ever been drunk and those reporting consuming alcohol in the last 30 days had also reduced. Although these are positive trends, we must continue to work to decrease these numbers and the risks to our young people.

Research studies also show consistently that exposure to alcohol advertising is associated with an increased likelihood that children will start to drink or will drink greater quantities if they already do. This is why the Public Health (Alcohol) Act contains measures designed to reduce this effect. Advertisements for alcohol products are banned in certain places, including in local authority parks and playgrounds, on our buses and trains, and in or near schools and crèches. Advertisements for alcohol are also banned in a venue while a sports event is taking place and at events aimed particularly at children. Children’s clothing that is branded with an alcohol product, or which promotes alcohol consumption, cannot be manufactured for sale, sold, or imported for sale in the State. A broadcast watershed for alcohol advertising was also introduced so they are not allowed on television between the hours of 3 a.m to 9 p.m. Similarly, on radio they are banned between 3 p.m. and the following 10 a.m. on weekdays. These timings were agreed in conjunction with the Department, and with the then Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, and they aim to capture the times when children watch television and listen to radio. The Act also provides for the separation and reduced visibility of alcohol products and advertising in shops.

Section 13 of the Act has not yet been commenced. It provides that advertising for alcohol products must include three health warnings informing the public of the risks associated with alcohol, along with details of the alcohol public health website established by the HSE. I am taking this debate under the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill's brief, and I am working with the Minister under health and well-being. Under section 13 of the Act the Minister for Health can make regulations prescribing the form of the warnings and the duration of the warnings in a broadcast advertisement. Those regulations are currently being developed. Section 18 of the Act provides for restrictions on alcohol advertising in publications. This section cannot be commenced until section 13 comes into operation. This section will restrict the advertising space permitted for advertising alcohol products in a publication and ban advertisements in publications aimed particularly at children.

This comprehensive range of measures was developed on the basis of the evidence of health harms from alcohol and on the basis of evidence that these measures would be effective in reducing that harm. This evidence was important and necessary to ensure that the Bill, and regulations under it, successfully exited the EU assessment process that applies to this law. The Bill before us today would amend the definition of advertising in the Public Health (Alcohol) Act to include advertisements for what it calls "alcohol-free" and "low-alcohol" products. This section also introduces a definition of these products, which includes that they have an alcohol by volume strength of 0.5% or lower.

The Government is opposing this Bill on a number of grounds. The first and most important is that the evidence is insufficient to determine the public health benefits or harms of advertisements for zero-alcohol and low-alcohol products. The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 was introduced to reduce the health harms caused by the consumption of alcohol in Ireland. The settled scientific consensus is that alcohol consumption causes harms, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and seven types of cancer, and that alcohol advertising serves to increase consumption and therefore harm. Zero-alcohol products do not have the health risks associated with alcohol products, and low-alcohol products have lower risk relative to standard alcohol products. If there is a widespread substitution of zero-alcohol or low-alcohol products for alcohol products this will be of benefit at a population health level and will reduce harm. The advertising of these products in promoting their consumption potentially supports or increases this potential benefit. However, the single risk in relation to the promotion of zero-alcohol or low-alcohol products is that this promotion may also serve to indirectly promote alcohol products. To facilitate evidence-based decision-making on the relative benefits and harms of no-alcohol and low-alcohol products and on their promotion, the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has requested reviews of the evidence on two aspects of zero-alcohol products. This is to be carried out by a team in the University of Galway. The reviews will look at the marketing and branding exposure for zero-alcohol-labelled products in Ireland, and a rapid scoping review of advertising presence, regulatory context, and consumer perception. They will also look at the health effects of zero-alcohol-labelled beverage consumption with a rapid umbrella review of review-level evidence. These reviews will be completed in quarter 3 of this year. It is important. I do understand the Deputy's concern. This is why it is important that we get these. The reports will identify the available evidence in Ireland on zero-alcohol products. Once these reviews are completed, the Minister will then consider whether additional evidence is needed, for example, evidence from other jurisdictions and evidence in relation to low-alcohol products. The purpose will be to determine the next best steps, based on evidence, in relation to these products and their promotion from a public health point of view.

In addition, this Bill raises other concerns. As I previously mentioned, section 13 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, which is not yet commenced, requires that advertisements for alcohol products must contain health warnings. Under this Private Members' Bill, advertisements for zero-alcohol products, which have none of the health risks associated with alcohol, would be required to have such health warnings. This could potentially mislead consumers about the risks of zero-alcohol products, as well as introduce the possibility of a legal challenge to section 13 on the grounds that advertisements for products with zero-alcohol content are required to carry such warnings.

Finally, the Bill as drafted targets products with 0.5% alcohol by volume content or lower only. The definitions of various alcohol products in the Public Health (Alcohol) Act are based on those in the 2003 Finance Act. Under that law, some alcohol products are defined at a different level of alcohol by volume. In that context, it may be that the restriction in the Bill to 0.5% may exclude some products. For these reasons, this Bill is being opposed but I acknowledge the Deputy’s concerns and look forward to the outcomes of the reviews. We are waiting on these and the Minister has requested the reviews. We are looking into it and I assure the Deputy that I will go back to the Minister with his concerns about the issues raised here today. I thank Deputy Rice for bringing the Bill to the House.

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