Marketing of alcoholic 'shot pack' could be banned

A BAN on marketing an alcoholic "shot pack'' is being considered, Minister of State for Health John Moloney told the Dáil.

The Departments of Justice and Health were in contact about the matter, he said.

"However, where any product is in free circulation within the EU internal market, difficulties arise in prohibiting its circulation and consumption within a single country,'' Mr Moloney added.

He was replying to Ulick Burke (FG, Galway East), who said the product was an 80 per cent proof Canadian whiskey.

Mr Burke said: "It can be hidden easily on one's person and brought into a nightclub without observation.''

He said a concerned constituent had been given a sample of the shot pack at a food and drinks fair in England.

"As a father and family man, it would frighten him, and likewise me, if this product was allowed into Ireland without strict controls.''

The product, he said, was advertised as "shots without glass''. Its brochure claimed it had revolutionised the single-serve alcohol category by introducing a single shot of premium liquor in a durable plastic pouch.

It said: "The 50ml shot comes in a safe, break-resistant plastic pouch which makes it safer than a glass and has a built-in spout, making it easy to pour no matter where it is taken."

Mr Burke said the product was promoted by an English company, and said he challenged the firm's managing director about the product's alcohol content, only to be told the firm had no products which were 80 per cent proof. He said: "I had one of them in my hands. He only admitted the fact then.''

Mr Moloney said plastic sachets of vodka, known as "bullseye baggies'', had also been placed on the market and appeared to be directed at young people.