Thomas Gould
Question:676. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in the full implementation of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018. [45278/21]
View answerTuesday, 21 September 2021
Questions (676)
Written answers
The Public Health (Alcohol) Act was enacted in October 2018 and to date 24 of its 31 provisions have been commenced. Of the remaining seven provisions, two are technical and the status of the remaining five is set out below. Work related to the Act both within my Department and within the Office of the Attorney General has been interrupted due to resources being applied to pandemic related work.
Section 4 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 requires intoxicating liquor licence applicants to notify the HSE in advance of first time or renewal applications and provides that the HSE may appear and be heard at the hearing for such applications. Consultation is currently ongoing with the District Court, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the HSE to finalise the process to allow for commencement.
Sections 12 and 13 of the Act are on the labelling of alcohol products and on the content of advertisements for alcohol products respectively. These sections cannot be commenced until regulations under those sections have been made.
Draft regulations under section 12 of the Act have been developed and are currently with the Office of the Attorney General for settling. Draft regulations under section 13 are currently being developed by my Department.
Following finalisation of the draft regulations they must be submitted to the European Commission for assessment as to whether they are in alignment with Single Market principles.
The commencement of Section 18 which addresses alcohol advertisements in publications is subject to the commencement of all other advertising sections of the Act.
Section 19 restricts the hours permitted for advertising alcohol products on television and radio. Consultation with the Broadcasting Authority and the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment and the HSE is necessary before the section can be commenced.