Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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960. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015; his views on whether the separated sale of alcohol in mixed retail outlets should be maintained in the Bill, contrary to the lobbying of the retail and alcohol industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41394/16]

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The enactment of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill is included in the Programme for a Partnership Government and is a priority for Government. The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill contains a suite of meaningful measures to reduce the level of harmful consumption of alcohol in Ireland. The aim of the legislation is to reduce alcohol consumption and the harms caused by alcohol. The Bill includes provisions for:

- minimum unit pricing;

- health labelling of alcohol products;

- the regulation of advertising and marketing of alcohol;

- the regulation of sponsorship;

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

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

The Bill provides for restrictions on the display, advertisement and visibility of alcohol products in mixed trade retail outlets. These provisions address concerns that alcohol is not an ordinary consumer product but a psychoactive drug that requires a licence for sale. The separation and reduced visibility of alcohol products in the manner prescribed will achieve the following objectives:

- access to alcohol products will be controlled in premises to which it applies;

- alcohol products cannot be on open display near grocery products, thereby discouraging impulse purchases and the purchase of alcohol products as part of everyday household grocery shopping;

- separate display of alcohol products or closed display in storage units will make alcohol products less visible to children and protect them from in-store marketing techniques.

The range of options provided for in Section 20 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill addresses the reasonable need for flexible implementation of the requirements. The provisions in the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill represent a significant compromise from the provisions set out in Section 9 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008, which required a separate walled area with its own point of sale for alcohol products.

The Bill commenced Committee Stage in the Seanad on the 26 October 2016. The Bill is scheduled to return to Committee Stage in the Seanad during this session of the Oireachtas. In the interim, consideration will be given to examine how best this important public health measure can be brought forward.