Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 124 seeks to insert "or alcohol" into the section dealing with potentially harmful products so that the commission may limit commercial communications in the public health interests of children. I thank Alcohol Action Ireland for its diligent work in this area and its support in drafting this amendment. The regulatory impact analysis for the Bill stated that alcohol marketing is dealt with under the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018. However, this is not the case. That Act does little to protect children in the media realm. The Minister has the chance to remedy that in this ground-breaking legislation.

Section 14 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 is quite narrow on advertising. It prohibits the advertising of alcohol in certain public spaces only. It does not relate to a large amount of advertising. It contains restrictions on the content of alcohol advertising. Furthermore the content of the legislation is far from being enacted and that is my concern. We need joined-up thinking on this which means that regulations governing public spaces, conventional media and the digital sphere are coherent and consistent. I believe this Bill would be an excellent place to achieve that. The amendment reflects the recommendations in the report on the pre-legislative scrutiny by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media which included a ban on the advertising of alcohol to children. That should be uncontentious. It is a way to combat the increasing budgets of alcohol producers that saturate our media and endanger children's health.

On 10 May the World Health Organization published a report which highlighted glaring gaps in regulation of alcohol marketing across borders. Young people and heavy drinkers are the major targets. The report highlights the increasing use of sophisticated online marketing techniques for alcohol and the need for more effective regulation. It shows that young people and heavy drinkers are increasingly targeted by alcohol adverting often to the determent of their health. The WHO noted that, "Reducing the harm from alcohol – by regulating cross-border alcohol marketing, advertising and promotion is the first report from WHO to detail the full extent of the way that alcohol is today being marketed".

I work in the field of addiction when I have my other hat on. I see the impact in particular on parents of young people who have alcohol problems. We have to face the reality. Three people today will die from an alcohol-related issue. We have a really unhealthy relationship with alcohol in Ireland. This is a really important amendment that reflects the recommendation in the pre-legislative scrutiny report. I hope the Minister will consider it because I believe it is extremely important.