Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is our understanding of the Bill proposed by Deputy Rice that the intention is to restrict the advertising of low-alcohol and zero-alcohol products where the effect of such advertisements, regardless of intent, is to also promote alcohol drinks. The Bill seeks to do that by amending the definition of advertising to include low-alcohol and zero-alcohol drinks and by creating a distinct provision for trade descriptions, trademarks, emblems, logos and marketing images, which are associated with alcohol products. It will, essentially, force zero-alcohol and low-alcohol product branding to be distinct from the alcohol branding in a more comprehensive way than the current tacking of "0.0" onto existing alcohol branding.

The promotion and advertising of alcoholic beverages has been significantly curtailed since the commencement of the relevant provisions of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018. Alcohol advertising and promotion is strictly limited, with an evening and late-night ban on TV advertising, a ban on advertising on public transport, near schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds and sports venues, or any event or place meant primarily for children. Alcohol advertising in shops is strictly limited to the part of the shop designated for alcohol products, and cannot be placed or seen from other parts of the shop.

Those restrictions do not apply to zero-alcohol products and would not apply to zero-alcohol products under this proposed new definition for advertising if they have satisfactory and distinct branding, logos, emblems and marketing imagery. As we see it, the intention is not to ban the advertising of low- and zero-alcohol products or to treat them the exact same as alcohol products, but to prevent the indirect advertising of alcohol products by raising the bar for zero-alcohol advertising that currently exists. Sadly, we have seen cynical and dishonest abuse of the existing laws by some of the worst aspects of the industry. We are all familiar with one particular brand that uses 0.0 labelling to sponsor a prominent sporting event, despite not actually producing or selling such a product. There are also genuine concerns of inappropriate advertising of 0.0 products in places where alcohol branding should not be present because the current threshold is too low.

The growth in zero-alcohol product consumption is welcome. Market trends indicate rapidly growing demand but the market share of zero-alcohol products is still much lower than in other EU states. As somebody who primarily drinks 0.0 Guinness, I can attest that in pretty much every bar you go into now, you can get zero-alcohol products on tap, which is a huge plus for those of us who do not want to drink alcohol but do want to drink a beer, Guinness, stout or whatever it may be. It is very important that is happening because there are huge health benefits to that product.

We need to be sure that public policy encourages the growth in zero-alcohol sales at the expense of alcoholic drinks, and that there are no unintended consequences for the growth of the zero-alcohol market share in any change made to the advertising laws. At the same time, the law clearly needs to be updated to ensure limits on alcohol advertising are not being cynically undermined by bad faith actors. For those reasons, we could not support a total ban on zero-alcohol advertising, but we are willing to work with the practical proposal in this Bill to further separate alcohol and zero-alcohol marketing, imagery and branding to ensure it is fit for purpose and achieves the outcome we all want.

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