Press release
Minister for Health welcomes Regulations restricting price promotions for alcohol products
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD welcomes the coming into force of Regulations under the Public Health (Alcohol) Act which are designed to restrict price promotions of alcohol products.
From Monday 11 January 2021, the ‘Sale and Supply of Alcohol Products Regulations’ will prohibit loyalty card points from being awarded or used for the purchase of alcohol products. They also ban the selling of an alcohol product at a reduced price for a limited period or because it is sold with another product or service.
Minister Donnelly said:
"A young person consuming the same volume of alcohol as an adult drinker is at risk of greater harm to his or her health with a particular risk to the developing adolescent brain.
"One of the primary objectives of our Public Health (Alcohol) Act is to delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people. These Regulations will ensure that price promotions which result in the sale of alcohol products at pocket money prices cannot continue.
"Alcohol is not like other grocery products because of its harmful health effects. These Regulations mean that price promotions which apply to other groceries can no longer be used for alcohol products. The coming into force of these Regulations is further progress toward our objective of reducing harmful drinking and the health harms of alcohol consumption in our country."
ENDS
The full title of the Regulations is the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (Sale and Supply of Alcohol Products) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 4 of 2020).