NEW RESTRICTIONS on alcohol advertising aimed at significantly reducing the exposure of young people to the product have been announced.
Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, Minister of State for Health, said the new code would limit alcohol advertising to no more than 25 per cent of available space, or time, on any occasion across Irish media.
He said additional restrictions would be placed on the times and places that alcohol advertisements could appear.
The Minister said the revised guidelines had been negotiated between the Department of Health and Children and representatives from the Irish alcohol and advertising industries.
On sponsorship of sporting events, the Minister said he would establish a working group to examine the extent of the existing sponsorships and the terms and length of existing contracts.
The new code will prohibit the use of "stings" or so-called "solus/ whistle" breaks - messages from sponsors just before ad breaks.
In addition, alcohol advertising will be banned from breakfast-time TV between 6am-10am, which will be treated as children's viewing time.
Sources in the department said the codes still required some "final touches" but would become operational by the summer.
The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland said the new codes would be "very challenging" for the industry as well as the advertising and media sectors.
Its chairman, Michael Patten, welcomed the co-operation between Government and the various interests, but said: "The reality is that the new measures now agreed will seriously restrict the amount of alcohol advertising in any publication or programme, and will distance it from association with sporting events in particular."
Similarly, the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland said it would affect the level of alcohol advertising.
"We welcome the decision not to proceed with inflexible and ineffective legislation in the area of bans and watersheds and instead allow for responsive and adaptable codes of practice," said its director Rosemary Garth.
Youth Work Ireland welcomed the changes, but also said that they were conservative.
It has also emerged that the tradition of the "early house" pub will end once new legislation aimed at curbing binge drinking comes into force this year.
While the move will affect just a handful of pubs - mostly in the Dublin area - it will end a drinking tradition that has been in place for more than a century.
Early house pubs were originally justified on the basis that people finishing work early in the morning were not able to access "food or refreshment", according to the Government's Alcohol Advisory Group.
The group said that while these rules may have reflected genuine needs in earlier times, it was not convinced they served any purpose in modern society.
It did not express any concern over public order or binge drinking related to these venues.
On foot of the recommendations, the Government has pledged to end the rules in the forthcoming Intoxicating Liquor/ Public Order Bill which is due to be enacted this summer.
The Licensed Vintners' Association (LVA) yesterday expressed disappointment with the decision.