The decision to defer health labelling on alcoholic drinks has all of the hallmarks of industry lobbying taking precedence over public health concerns, according to Social Democrats Enterprise spokesperson Sinéad Gibney.
Deputy Gibney said:
“This government had committed to introducing health labelling on alcoholic drinks next year – but that promise has now been broken.
“This decision is particularly difficult to understand given Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have claimed they are in favour of this measure – and it has universal support in the medical community.
“I am particularly struck that Micheál Martin is Taoiseach as this retrograde decision is taken, given a key part of his political legacy was the introduction of the smoking ban in Ireland.
“Given the opportunity now to introduce another far-reaching and meaningful public health reform, the Taoiseach – and this government – have bottled it.
“Only 38 per cent of people in Ireland are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer yet the government has deferred a measure that would address this information vacuum.
“In attempting to justify this decision, the government has attempted to link it to tariffs, but this doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. This is about alcohol labelling in this country – it doesn’t impact our exports.
“Each year in Ireland there are approximately 1,000 alcohol-related cancer cases, so this is a hugely important issue. This decision has all of the hallmarks of industry lobbying taking precedence over public health concerns.”
July 16th, 2025