New legislation rightly recognises alcohol misuse as a public health issue – Byrne

“As a member of the Oireachtas Cross Party Group on Alcohol and the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, I welcome the publication of the Heads of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015”, says Fine Gael TD for Dublin South Central, Catherine Byrne.

“This legislation is long awaited and rightly recognises alcohol misuse as a public health issue.

“I commend the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, for moving forward with this Bill which aims to reduce alcohol consumption and limit the damage to our nation’s health, society and economy. The human and financial cost of alcohol misuse in Ireland is huge. Our drinking ‘culture’ is not one to be proud of and attitudes need to change to reflect the very real dangers of alcohol misuse and how it impacts on our lives.

“Alcohol misuse is a genuine public health issue, and it is important to recognise alcohol is a drug and has serious and damaging effects on our health. 88 deaths every month in Ireland are directly attributable to alcohol, and this is just too many. I therefore welcome the measures set down in the Heads of this Bill, particularly the introduction of minimum unit pricing which effectively bans low-cost sales of alcoholic products. I also welcome the introduction of labelling on alcohol products to include health warnings and advice (including for pregnancy), as well as the pure alcohol content and calorie count. Another important new measure is the structural separation of alcohol from other goods in supermarkets, which will be enforced by Environmental Health Officers.

“New restrictions on the advertising and marketing of alcohol mean that it will be illegal to market or advertise alcohol in a manner that is appealing to children. There will also be new restrictions on the advertising and marketing of alcohol from 2016 including a broadcast watershed on TV and radio, with further restrictions due on cinema and outdoor advertising.

“Placing the existing Code of Practice for Sponsorships by Drinks Companies on a statutory footing is a step forward, however I would urge the Minister and his Department to re-examine how we can curtail alcohol sponsorship of sporting events because we need to send out a strong message that alcohol has no place in our sporting events.

“I look forward to the publication of the Bill and hope it can be progressed quickly.”