Alcohol Action Ireland press release, Wednesday 25 June, 2025
Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI), the national independent advocate to reduce alcohol harm, finds it outrageous that Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke would formally intervene in the domestic health issue that is alcohol health information labelling by asking Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to delay its introduction, citing spurious industry misinformation as grounds for such a call.
Minister Burke expressed concerns that labels would mean increased costs for Irish producers and importers when in fact the legal onus is on retailers, not producers or importers, to ensure products are labelled so a supermarket or off-licence can simply add a sticker to the product. He also argued it would provide an opportunity to work with the European Commission on drawing up a set of EU-wide regulations instead, when in fact such a move has already been shot down during discussions on the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan due to intense industry lobbying and direct intervention. The net result is that there will be no harmonised EU labelling, rather, each country, Ireland included, must go it alone or have no warnings whatsoever.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “AAI has been shouting from the rooftops the facts about labelling but there is a cohort of senior government figures – all from Fine Gael – who don’t seem to be interested in facts and who are driving the narrative around this issue. It was suggested that Minister Burke’s formal request could be ‘an act of political choreography’ in advance of a decision being announced and given the recent contacts between Martin Heydon, Peter Burke, Simon Harris and Paschal Donohoe, who have all been fighting for the alcohol industry’s interests, and the Minister for Health, AAI needs to ask is there anyone in government who is standing up for Department of Health policy? Why is there silence from Fianna Fáil and in particular Taoiseach Micheál Martin?
“Minister Burke mentioned many red herrings as grounds for delaying labelling but funnily enough didn’t mention impact on exports, which was the misinformation drum some politicians were beating until an AAI campaign exposed the argument as not being true. The fact that government Ministers have now, yet again, changed their argument shows they’ll say anything they think might work to derail labelling. It’s also crystal clear that there will be no harmonised EU-wide labelling. Thanks to alcohol industry lobbying consumers are not even given the most basic of information about alcohol such as the product’s ingredients, which is unheard of for absolutely every other product on sale in the EU.
“Labelling has been scrutinised carefully at EU level during the European Commission Technical Regulations Information System (TRIS) and the Commission ruled that Ireland’s labelling regulations do not constitute a barrier to trade or the single market and that Ireland’s regulations are proportionate to the scale of the alcohol issues in this country. Instead of waiting for Europe, Ireland needs to be the standard-bearer for alcohol just like we were for smoking. If we waited for Europe on smoking there would still be no smoking ban. Other countries are watching Ireland closely on alcohol labelling ready to follow our lead, just like they did with smoking.”
Every day in Ireland, three people are told they have cancer caused by alcohol and 15 babies are born with the lifelong neurological condition Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) caused solely by alcohol. Alcohol labels tell people the facts, that alcohol causes liver disease and cancer. They also have a pregnancy warning graphic, while giving basic nutritional information and the details of the HSE website www.askaboutalcohol.ie.
Dr Gilheany continued: “Delaying labelling is not without its consequences. Alcohol is responsible for 1,000 cancers every year and up to 7.4% of the population has FASD. It is unconscionable, but unsurprising, that the alcohol industry opposes health information labelling aimed at informing the public of the risks related to alcohol and pregnancy. However, such attempts are nothing new – the alcohol industry opposed the introduction of mandatory, visible pregnancy warning labelling regulations in Australia and New Zealand for over 20 years before they were finally passed in 2020 and introduced three years later.
“When Peter Burke says to the Health Minister, ‘notwithstanding the overarching health benefits of the proposal, I request a delay’ what he’s really saying is, ‘notwithstanding that Irish people will die from cancer caused by alcohol, I request a delay’ – that is the seriousness of the issue and the fact so many of our senior politicians are dealing with it in such an unserious manner – consciously spouting industry misinformation that puts a price on Irish lives – is shameful.
“Micheál Martin is rightly held in the highest regard nationally and internationally thanks to his leadership around Ireland’s smoking regulations and he knows all too well the power of industry lobbying having faced down the tobacco industry then. The eyes of the world are on Ireland again and AAI is strongly urging the Taoiseach to resist industry lobbying once more and proceed as planned with alcohol labelling’s introduction in May 2026.
“It’s time for the Taoiseach to make a statement clarifying government’s position on the issue.”
ENDS
