Ireland ‘needs to change its damaging attitude to alcohol’

The Irish government has outlined strict new legislation to tackle alcohol misuse, that could result in ban on alcohol advertising on public transport, minimum unit pricing and the physical separation of alcohol from other products in off-trade outlets.

Unveiling its Public Heath (Alcohol) Bill yesterday, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said the proposed measures would reduce average annual alcohol consumption in Ireland from 11 to 9.1 litres per person by 2020.

Proposals include the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol of 10c/gram to “eliminate” very cheap alcohol, and imposing “structural separation” of alcohol products from other products in outlets, “either by containment in a unit or a separate area of the store”. Alcohol should not be presented as an “everyday” or “ordinary” product, according to the proposals.

The changes would mean that a 750ml bottle of wine at 11.5% abv would cost a minimum €8.63, a 700ml bottle of 40% abv €28 and a litre bottle of cider at 4.3% €4.30.

Compulsory health labelling on drinks requiring grams, calorie count, health warnings and a link to a public health website on alcohol containers have also been proposed, along with a requirement to display health warnings on products with a link to a public health website.

The Health Minister also wants to ban alcohol adverts near schools, playgrounds and on public transport, including bus and train stations, and introduce a 9pm broadcasting watershed for alcohol adverts. Adverts should be “strictly informative”, with breaches subject to criminal sanction.

“Ireland needs to change its damaging attitude to alcohol”, said Varadkar at the official launch. “There’s a huge difference between having a drink on occasion with friends, and indulging in regular binge drinking. The costs are huge: from the damage to personal health and to society, absenteeism, the burden placed on the health services, public disorder and violence, traffic accidents, and the associated mental health consequences.”

“The evidence about Ireland’s drinking habits is shocking. Four out of ten drinkers typically engage in binge drinking. This Bill addresses alcohol as a public health issue for the first time by tackling price, availability, marketing, advertising, and labelling. By taking this approach and confronting the problem in a wide range of ways, I am confident that we can make a huge difference to public health. We have talked about these measures for long enough. Now is the time to make it happen.”

The bill will be submitted to the Irish parliament later this month.

To read the plans in detail click here.