No restrictions on alcohol adverts this year despite Ahern's hard line

GOVERNMENT proposals to restrict alcohol advertising will not be introduced this year, despite the Taoiseach's expressed view yesterday that the legislation will be published shortly.

The proposals to crack down on alcohol promotion to protect children arise from the report of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol, published a full year ago.

But the Department of Health confirmed yesterday that officials are still only doing preliminary work on the legislation and the laws appear nowhere on the Government's legislation programme running up to the summer.

The hard line adopted by Mr Ahern on alcohol abuse yesterday was not merely prompted by President Mary McAleese's recent comments on the same topic, according to Government sources.

The series of proposals to reduce the exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol marketing include banning alcohol advertising on public transport, TV and radio before 10pm and in cinemas for under-18 movies.

Happy hours, sales promotions, free bars and other methods of low-cost selling of alcohol will also be banned.

Health warnings about the risks of over consumption of alcohol will also be carried on advertisements and the Government is also planning to take a proposal through the European Commission to put health warnings on alcohol products.

At the European Brewing Convention in Dublin yesterday, Mr Ahern said the drinks industry should refuse to produce or sell alcopops to show its commitment to addressing the problem of binge-drinking.

Alcohol abuse had become a serious matter which the Government was committed to tackling, he said.

"The problem, as I see it, involves a particular attitude to drink that has become more widespread in our society. "This attitude prioritises drinking to getting drunk and binge drinking, rather than having a few social drinks with friends," Mr Ahern said.