Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have discussed alcohol advertising a great deal. I welcome the amendment made to the broadcast watershed to the effect that a person shall not broadcast or cause to be broadcast an advertisement for an alcohol product on a television programme service between 3 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The digital marketing of alcohol products to children is an area where regulation needs to be strong. I have spoken on this issue in the House previously. At a personal level, I see the merit of the proposed amendment to section 19 relating to advertising on the Internet. One of the main aims of the Bill is to prevent children from being exposed to advertising. The Bill already restricts advertising near schools and in places such as bus shelters and cinemas. However, as introduced, the Bill does nothing to address the growing problem of children's exposure to alcohol advertising online, especially through social media. This amendment would fill the gap by requiring advertisers to take reasonable steps to prevent children from viewing alcohol advertising online as well as offline. I believe this amendment is enforceable. Social media firms already apply age controls in respect of alcohol content. For example, Facebook requires advertisements for alcohol to be targeted only at users of a certain age or above. There are different ages for different companies. Twitter has an age screening feature which requires users to enter their date of birth to follow an alcohol company account. Where these features exist, this amendment would require alcohol firms to use them. Most have already agreed to do so as part of industry self-regulation or as a condition of advertising on these platforms.

On a personal level, I believe the duty is to take all reasonable steps having regard to factors such as the cost of the measures and the state of the technology. This means that an alcohol company would not be expected to take unreasonable or disproportionately costly steps. This amendment essentially codifies existing practices in respect of age, websites, advertising controls and social network policies and creates a legal obligation to use technologies and controls that are already available. As I stated at the beginning, while I welcome the Bill, I believe a far more fundamental shift needs to occur to tackle the alarming rate of alcohol consumption in Ireland.