Government to oppose ban on ads for zero-alcohol drinks

Social Democrats want to include 0.0 and low-alcohol brands in curbs on alcohol advertising

Launched in 2020, Guinness 0.0 is one of the zero-alcohol products that would be targeted by the Social Democrats' bill. Picture: Julien Behal

The Government is to oppose proposals to ban the advertising of non-alcoholic products, as the health regulator is to investigate the impact of such ads.

Cabinet agreed on Tuesday to oppose the legislation, which is being brought forward by Social Democrats health spokesperson Pádraig Rice.

A spokesperson for the Government cited a lack of “public health consensus on whether the promotion of zero and low alcohol products will be a public health harm or benefit overall”.

“Health harms will be reduced if consumers substitute these products for alcohol products and the advertising of these products is likely to promote that substitution,” a Government spokesperson said.

“However, such advertising may also serve to indirectly promote alcohol products.” 

Hiqa review

It comes as Hiqa is to carry out a review into the impact of advertising on low- and non-alcoholic products.

The Hiqa review has been initiated to “facilitate evidence-based decisions on these products” and the impact of their promotion.

It is expected the review will be completed in the autumn.

In its opposition to the bill, the Government flagged concerns about the products which would be impacted.

The legislation only provides for banning advertising on alcohol products of 0.5% alcohol by volume content or lower.

However, in Ireland, wine, spirits, and cider are not defined as alcoholic products until they reach 1.2%.

“This means that only the lowest-risk products would be subject to this bill,” the spokesperson added.

Impact on alcohol warning labels 

Concerns were also raised about the impact of the bill on the Government’s own legislation which is set to introduce warning labels on alcohol products.

While the rules are not set to enter into force until 2028, there would be a requirement to put health warnings on non-alcoholic products if the bill was passed.

“This could be the cause of a legal challenge as advertisements for products with none of the health risks associated with alcohol would be required to carry health warnings,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Rice described the Government’s argument as a “red herring” and said the ban on alcohol advertising had been introduced to protect children. He said: 

Children should not be exposed to aggressive alcohol advertising when they sit down to watch a match.

“This is about protecting children. We’re trying to close a loophole here.” 

He said the existing market share for non-alcoholic products is low, but companies are aggressively using those products to advertise alcoholic drinks.

He also criticised the decision to oppose the bill on the basis that 1.2% is the threshold for which some products are labelled as alcoholic.

Mr Rice said every government bill is amended “extensively”, while opposition legislation is shot down at second stage and amendments cannot be made.

While he criticised the decision to block the bill, he welcomed the move by Hiqa to investigate the impact of advertising non-alcoholic products.