New alcohol advertising rules come into effect

New laws on the advertising of alcohol on radio and television come into effect from Friday, January 10.

The broadcast watershed ban on alcohol commercials will mean that no drinks advertisements will be permitted on television between 3am and 9pm each day, while such ads will also be banned on radio from 3pm to 10am on weekdays.

Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) has welcomed the ban, which comes into force under Section 19 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (PHAA).

The organisation said the measure will help to reduce the level of exposure of children to alcohol marketing, which is known to be a key driver of both initiating alcohol use by children, and increasing alcohol use by children.

“Ireland is rightly praised internationally for its leadership in passing the PHAA, which is a suite of quite modest measures designed to provide some degree of protection from the tactics of an aggressive industry acting against the population’s health through relentless marketing,” said AAI chief executive Dr Sheila Gilheany.

“AAI and many others have strongly campaigned for years for its introduction, and since it was passed alcohol consumption per capita has dropped by 10 per cent, which is positive.”

She added: “However, the fact that the broadcast watershed is only coming into force now, almost seven years after being signed into law, and that not all sections of the PHAA are in force yet, shows the power of the alcohol industry’s lobbying efforts to stymie and delay progress.

“The different sections of the PHAA are designed to complement one another, and the legislation’s public health benefits will only be fully realised when all the sections are enforced. With Ireland still drinking at a level 40 per cent higher than HSE lower-risk guidelines, this is an imperative.”

The two further sections of the Act in relation to advertising that remain to be commenced are Section 13, which places restrictions on the content of alcohol advertisements, and Section 18 which relates to advertisements in publications.

Section 13 has faced significant push-back from the drinks industry as it restricts the content of alcohol advertisements to facts. In addition, ads for alcohol products will be required to include health information – such as cancer warnings and details of the HSE alcohol information website, with the aim of providing unbiased material about alcohol risks, and to break the (advertised) positive associations between alcohol and lifestyle.

“Drafting of Section 13 began in June 2022 and in October 2024 Health Minister Stephen Donnelly claimed his priority was to finalise the regulations on the content of alcohol advertisements under Section 13, and yet there is still no sign of it being commenced,” Dr Gilheany said of the Harvard graduate.

“Even if commenced today, it will take three years before the section is enforced, so that would be a 10-year delay on legislation that was signed into law in 2018.

“The bizarre thing is that Section 13 is designed to work in tandem with health warning labelling regulations, which come into force in May 2026, so why is there such a delay in its commencement?,” she asked.

“If the next government is serious about tackling alcohol harm, which kills more than 1,500 people every year and costs the state €12 billion annually, then it needs to stop dragging its heels and fully implement all sections of the PHAA. There is strong public support for controls on alcohol marketing and a need for more information on alcohol, with polling indicating over 70 per cent in favour of such measures. We must stop this deference to industry and implement the law without any further delay.”

In response, a statement from the Department of Health said that work on the drafting of advertising regulations around Section 13 is underway. “Once finalised, the draft regulations must be submitted to the EU Commission for assessment and once they have successfully completed that process, they will require notification under the World Trade Organization (WTO) process.

“Ireland is the first country in the world to introduce mandatory health labelling of alcohol products and has been recognised for this groundbreaking development. The law provides that from 20 May 2026, the labels of alcohol products will include a warning of the risk of consuming alcohol when pregnant, the risk of liver disease and the risk of fatal cancers from alcohol consumption. The labels will also direct the consumer to the HSE website, www.askaboutalcohol.ie, for further information.”