Alcohol sponsorship - Committee leaves State off the hook

While there are compelling arguments in favour of banning sponsorship of sports events by the drinks industry, the proposal for a ban by 2016 seems destined to be long-fingered.

Effectively having been forced on health grounds to confront the sponsorship question, the Government has been neatly let off the hook by an Oireachtas committee report which comes down squarely against the imposition of a ban in the current economic climate.

Giving what many will interpret as a mere nod to the anxieties of medical experts, it bluntly concludes that any decision be put off until an alternative source of funding is found. Basically it argues that the main sporting organisations would suffer inordinately if alcohol sponsorship was outlawed.