John Paul Phelan
Question:701. Deputy John Paul Phelan asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce a minimum unit pricing on alcohol, as a means to curb alcohol abuse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21631/15]
View answerTuesday, 9 June 2015
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The General Scheme of the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill was approved by Government on the 3 February 2015. The Scheme includes provisions for minimum unit pricing, health labelling on products that contain alcohol, restrictions on the advertising and marketing of alcohol and the regulation of sports sponsorship. As part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process, the measures were debated by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. The hearings commenced on the 10 March and concluded on the 23 April.
The Public Health (Alcohol) Bill will make it illegal to sell or advertise for sale alcohol at a price below a set minimum price. Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) sets a minimum price per gram of alcohol. The minimum price of an alcohol product would be based on the number of grams of alcohol in the product. MUP is a targeted measure, aimed at those who drink in a harmful and hazardous manner, and designed to prevent the sale of alcohol at very cheap prices. MUP is able to target cheaper alcohol relative to its strength because the minimum price is determined by and is directly proportional to the amount of pure alcohol in the drink. The University of Sheffield study reported that the alcohol products most affected by this policy are those that are currently being sold very cheaply, often below cost prices, in the off-trade, i.e. supermarkets and off-licences.
The Department of Health is continuing to work on the preparation of the legislation. It is expected that the Bill will be published during the Spring/Summer Session 2015.