Crackdown planned on use of loyalty cards to buy discounted alcohol

Some supermarkets allow customers to buy items, including alcohol, at a reduced price if they use their loyalty cards. Picture: Sasko Lazarov

The Government is set to crack down on customers using supermarket loyalty cards to obtain discounts on alcohol.

While existing laws prohibit using loyalty card points to purchase alcohol, further regulations are now planned for their use to buy cut-price booze.

Currently, some supermarkets allow customers to buy items, including alcohol, at a reduced price if they use their loyalty cards when purchasing them.

Minister for health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said regulations will need to be submitted to Europe before it can be passed.

Separately, the health minister also expects a group of experts to report back on the progress of measures such as minimum-unit pricing of alcohol by the end of this year.

The Public Health Alcohol Bill, passed in 2018, has multiple sections which have been enacted by Government in the years since it was signed into law.

This has included the introduction of barriers in shops that sell alcohol from the other products in the store. 

It has also seen an advertising watershed introduced as well as restrictions on advertising in the likes of sports arenas.

Section 23 of the legislation covered alcohol promotions in retail outlets and was made law in January 2021.

It prohibits the award of, or use of, bonus or loyalty card points in relation to the sale of alcohol products.

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While the regulations do not specifically prohibit buying alcohol at a reduced price by using a loyalty card, Ms Carroll MacNeill has said in response to a parliamentary question that further developments in this area will be submitted to Europe.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “The minister has begun developing regulations to address alcohol price promotions related to the possession of a loyalty card.

“The EU assessment involves a standstill period of up to six months, during which time the EU Commission and other member states examine the notified draft in the context of compatibility with EU law and the principles of the free movement of goods and services.”

As for minimum unit pricing, which came in in 2022, the legislation allowing it come into force allows the minister for health to raise the floor price for alcohol three years after the measure has been introduced.

Ms Carroll MacNeill said the law specifies that she must take into account expert research available on the effectiveness of minimum unit pricing with a report expected later this year.

She must also have regard to factors such as patterns of alcohol consumption and data from health services on alcohol-related presentations at health facilities since its introduction.