Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1328. To ask the Minister for Health if a matter in relation to the labelling of alcohol will be examined (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12948/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 requires that certain health warnings and information be displayed on the labels of alcohol products, on notices in licensed premises and on websites which sell alcohol products. The labels of alcohol products must also contain information on the grams of alcohol and the calories in the product.

Section 12 requires that the notices to be displayed in licensed premises and the notices required on websites which sell alcohol products must be bilingual. In the case of labels on alcohol products, the information is required in the English language only. Section 12 was enacted in this manner in 2018 in the interests of proportionality i.e., to lessen the burden on businesses who would be required to put these six additional pieces of information on the labels of their products for the first time.

As section 12 requires bilingual notices in both on-licensed premises and off-licensed premises, as well as on websites that sell alcohol products, this requirement was enacted in 2018 in a way to ensure that the relevant information will be available in the Irish language to all consumers.