Government votes against banning advertising alcohol online to children

The government has voted against a proposal to ban the online advertising of alcohol to children.

Sinn Féin put forward the change to the Public Health Alcohol Bill, which is being debated in the Dail this evening.

The party wants it to be an offence for alcohol to be advertised on websites or social media - unless steps are taken to make sure it can't be seen by under 18s.

The government opposed the move. Health Minister Simon Harris thinks it would be difficult to enforce.

"I'm unclear as to how effective age verification controls are in terms of their implementation," he said.

If it's a matter of clicking a button to confirm that the viewer is aged 18 or over, children may simply well be able to click that button and therefore access the alcohol advertising.

Digital Desk