Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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611. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on his plans to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol; and on the measures, if any, he plans to take to tackle alcohol abuse [22315/13]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that real and tangible proposals are currently being finalised on foot of the recommendations in the National Substance Misuse Strategy report. These proposals cover all of the areas mentioned in the report, including legislation on minimum unit pricing which is about setting a statutory floor price per gram of alcohol.

The Cabinet Committee on Social Policy has considered these proposals and I intend to bring forward specific proposals for consideration by Government shortly.

In the meantime, work on developing a framework for the necessary Department of Health legislation is continuing. For example, in conjunction with Northern Ireland, a health impact assessment is being commissioned as part of the process of developing a legislative basis for minimum unit pricing. (Scotland commissioned a similar assessment before drafting its legislation on minimum unit pricing.) The health impact assessment will study the impact of different minimum prices on a range of areas such as health, crime and likely economic impact.