Alcohol legislation ‘most far reaching yet’, Varadkar

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has described the range of measures announced on Tuesday to reduce alcohol consumption as the most far reaching yet to curb the misuse of alcohol.

Responding to criticisms from Independent TD Róisín Shortall on Wednesday who said the measures did not go far enough, Mr Varadkar said it was the first time the Government was dealing with problem drinking through public health legislation rather than through licensing and justice legislation.

“We’ve had four years of talking about this, including under Minister Shortall’s remit and nothing was actually done,” he said. “With only one year left in Government I decided what we should do is press ahead with the most effective measures and do them now, implement them, get a result and then it is agreed we’ll review progress in a few years time again.”

“I have been listening to the various criticisms. It’s a combination of you’re going too far from some people ... And you’re not going far enough (from others). That’s the nature of [introducing]any package of measures.”

The measures involve restrictions on the sale of cheap drink and warning labels on bottles and cans.

There will also be legal regulation of sports sponsorship for the first time, though there will be no ban on sponsorship by the drinks industry. Advertising restrictions will be introduced.

Ms Shortall told RTÉ radio on Wednesday she was "disappointed" Mr Varadkar had decided to stick with an existing code of practice in relation to sponsorship, which she said had been drawn up by the drinks industry itself.

“Politicians have traditionally been very slow to tackle this issue,” she said. “The alcohol industry is very powerful in this country and has very good access to a lot of senior politicians.”

Mr Varadkar says the proposed Public health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 will be published in the coming months and made law, he hoped, by the end of the year.

Among the key elements of the Bill are provisions to prevent the sale of very cheap alcohol; health labelling and warnings, including calorie counts; powers for environmental health officers to enforce the separation of alcohol within stores and to police minimum unit pricing; legal regulation of sports sponsorship; and restrictions on the advertising and marketing of alcohol, including a broadcast watershed.

It will also be illegal to market alcohol in a manner that is appealing to children.