John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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461. To ask the Minister for Health when he will advance all Stages of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 [Seanad] through the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28536/16]

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the Bill was initiated in the Seanad last December and remains a priority for this Government. It has now been restored on the Seanad Order paper and I would expect to see it progress through the Houses of the Oireachtas this Autumn.

The aim of the Bill is to reduce consumption to the OECD average by 2020 (i.e. 9.1 litres of pure alcohol per capita) and the harms caused by alcohol. This is part of a suite of measures agreed by the Government in 2013 on foot of the recommendations in the Steering Group Reporton a National Substance Misuse Strategy. The Bill is one of a number of measures being taken under the Healthy IrelandFramework.

The Bill includes the following main provisions:

- minimum unit pricing;

- health labelling of alcohol products;

- the regulation of advertising and sponsorship of alcohol products;

- the regulation of sponsorship;

- structural separation of alcohol products in mixed trading outlets; and

- the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol in certain circumstances.