THE GOVERNMENT WILL oppose a Bill that would restrict advertisements for zero and low alcohol drinks.
The Public Health (Alcohol) (Amendment) Bill 2025, which is being brought forward by Social Democrats TD Padraig Rice, is due to be debated in the Dáil on Thursday, 28 May.
The Bill seeks to amend the existing Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, which limits the advertisement of alcohol products, by extending it to include zero and some low alcohol drinks.
A spokesperson for the government said there is “no public health consensus” on whether the promotion of zero and low alcohol products is a harm or benefit to public health overall.
The spokesperson noted that alcohol consumption may be reduced as a result of the ads, as they promote substitutions from alcohol products. However, they said such advertisements may also serve to indirectly promote alcohol products.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) has been asked by the government to undertake initial reviews of the evidence related to zero alcohol products.
These reviews are due to be completed in the third quarter of this year and will identify “what, if any, additional evidence is needed”.
The government argued that, as drafted, the Social Democrats’ bill may be open to legal challenge.
It said this is because Section 13 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act (which has not yet been commenced) requires that advertisements for alcohol products must contain health warnings.
“This could be the cause of a legal challenge as advertisements for products with none of the health risks associated with alcohol would be required to carry health warnings,” the government spokesperson said.
Speaking in the Dáil in September 2025 when he first tabled this Bill, Rice said the 2018 legislation was a “landmark” piece of law that had a key objective to limit the amount of alcohol marketing that children were exposed to.
“To help to achieve this, the Act included important restrictions on alcohol advertising near schools, playgrounds, public transport, cinemas and shops and during sports events.
“Just as these measures came into force, big alcohol brands began brand sharing, that is advertising zero alcohol products using the same parent branding, logos and colours,” Rice said.
He said his proposed legislation simply closes the “loophole” that exists in the 2018 Act.
“The Bill would amend the existing Act to explicitly include alcohol-free or low alcohol products in the advertising provisions.
“In doing so, I simply want to make explicit what is already implicit in the law. We cannot stand back and allow vested interests to trample all over public health measures in the pursuit of profit,” Rice said.