Health minister bans retailers from offering loyalty card prices on alcohol products 

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said in April that while such a change was planned by the government, any changed regulations would need to be submitted to Europe first. File picture: Bairbre Holmes/PA 

The health minister has banned the use of loyalty cards to buy cheaper alcohol from March 2028.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has brought in the ban in an amendment to existing regulations under the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (Sale and Supply of Alcohol Products) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

While existing regulations, which came into force in 2023, mean customers cannot use loyalty card points to buy alcohol, they soon will be unable to buy cheaper booze with their loyalty cards.

At present, certain stores give two prices for select drinks — a price you pay if you don’t have a loyalty card, and a price you pay if you do have one. Sometimes the price differential can be quite substantial.

The original legislation refers to people not being allowed to use “bonus points, loyalty card points, or any similar benefit” to buy booze.

The definition of “any similar benefit" has been widened to include, according to a Statutory Order made by the minister, “a reduction in price or discount awarded in respect of an alcohol product on the basis of the possession of a loyalty card or membership of a loyalty scheme or club”.

The minister said in April that while such a change was planned by the government, any changed regulations would need to be submitted to Europe first.

Alcohol Action Ireland CEO Sheila Gilheany said: “This amendment is a welcome boost for public health by ensuring that big retailers cannot circumvent the law any more to sell cut-price alcohol.

“Section 23 of the original act banned specific types of alcohol promotions including using or earning bonus points when buying alcohol.

“When first introduced in January 2023 supermarkets got round this by giving discounts based on just having a loyalty card or being part of a loyalty scheme.

“The move also highlights that alcohol is no ordinary product and should not be treated as a regular grocery item given the significant burden arising from it, with thousands of hospital admissions every year, four people dying every day and a massive toll on families, communities, and the State."

She also said: "Despite being signed into law back in 2018, not all sections of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 are implemented even though they were designed to work in tandem.

“For example, the delay in implementing alcohol health information labelling to September 2028 following a global campaign by the alcohol industry is more than disappointing and shows the lengths that this industry will go to subvert this important legislation.

“Meanwhile other sections are being undermined by the loophole of marketing 0.0 products that use the same branding as their full-strength equivalents in places off-limits to alcohol marketing.”