Calls for TDs not to delay final stages of Alcohol Bill
Alcohol Action Ireland is calling on TDs to consider peoples health rather than the interests of the alcohol industry.
The group want thirteen TDs to withdraw their proposed amendments to the Public Health Alcohol Bill, ahead of its final stages on Wednesday.
They say that they are advancing the business interests of the alcohol industry rather than the wellbeing of their constituents.
Eunan McKinney from Alcohol Action Ireland says that it needs to be finalised.
"This bill has now been in the offing for over a thousand days and it's very close to being completed," he said.
"What the TDs are endeavouring to do is simply delay, by instruments of the alcohol industry, by putting down a set of new amendments and we're asking for them not to be accepted."
However, the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland has welcomed the amendments made by TDs.
Patricia Callan, Director of the Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland says that more consideration of the changes is needed.
"We're delighted that there's now cross-party support for amendments which are designed to remove the fact that the Bill now contains a proposal to put a cancer warning on labels and advertising in pubs and on websites relating to alcohol," she said.
"That would be the first time in the world that has been done and it hasn't been given a due regulatory impact analysis, it hasn't looked at the scientific evidence and we are obviously very worried that a home grown, fantastic exporting business will be destroyed if that was to go ahead."
