Committee against ban on alcohol sponsorship in sport

An Oireachtas Committee has opposed plans to ban alcohol sponsorship at sporting events.

Committee against ban on alcohol sponsorship in sport

An Oireachtas Committee has opposed plans to ban alcohol sponsorship at sporting events.

A Department of Health report last year recommended drinks firms be banned from sponsoring sporting and cultural events by 2016.

But today the Transport and Communications Committee says the proposed ban would make sporting organisations and clubs suffer inordinately.

Publishing its findings on the issue today the Committee said a ban would be detrimental to the sports industry in the current economic climate and is recommending ring-fencing some of the money for addiction programmes instead.

It has called for sport to be treated in the same way as the arts, music and other festivals and said that a ban should not be considered until other streams of comparable funding are found.

The Cabinet will consider the findings before making a final decision on the proposals - part of a wider action plan on alcohol - with ministers divided in their opinions.

Leo Varadkar, Transport Minister, is understood to be opposed to a blanket ban, as are other leading Fine Gael figures, but Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is understood to be open to it.

Junior Health Minister Alex White is also among those in favour of the sponsorship ban, saying that linking drink and sporting events is "counter-intuitive".

Minister White said that while funding concerns are understandable, his priority and the priority of his Department has to be the impact of alcohol on health.

"Whatever decisions are made there'll be an opportunity for sporting bodies to look for alternative sponsorship and to attract alternative sponsorship," he said.

"It's important for the Govenrment to weigh in the balance the issues that face sporting bodies in terms of their funding.

"But the most important issue of all for me is the public health dimension of alcohol - and particularly alcohol misuse."

Vice Chairperson of the Committee John O'Mahony said tody that there were also differences of opinions among Committee membersl, but they had no other option but to oppose the ban because of the current economic realities.

"The whole isse we are discussing - it's not up to sporting organisations to solve it totally," said Deputy O'Mahony.

"If sponsorship of sporting events was banned in the morning, it wouldn't solve the misuse and abuse of alcohol.

"There is a suggestion out there that it might, and I don't think that is true."

The Fine Gael TD said Committee members had not been convinced that sport sponsorship by drinks’ companies leads to alcohol abuse.

“The majority held the view that the link between sponsorship and the misuse of alcohol in society had not been established and, consequently, the committee feels that banning sponsorship of sports by the alcohol industry is not merited at this time,” he said.

“In the current economic climate, the report argues, the main sporting organisations in this country would suffer inordinately if legislation for such a prohibition was introduced.”

Alcohol Action Ireland said it is disappointed by the findings, insisting that the connection between drink and sport in Ireland has to be broken.

Spokesperson Joe Barry said there are alternative sponsors out there, and linking drink to sport is damaging the health of young people.

Peter O'Brien, chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) and Diageo's European corporate relations director, said the industry and Government should be looking for evidence-based solutions that will impact on alcohol abuse.

“We need a fresh approach,” he said.

“The reality is that the misuse of alcohol is not in the interests of our industry or its sustainable development. It damages our members, it damages our brands and it damages the societies in which we operate. So let us work together to put in place measures that will have a real and lasting impact to change our cultural acceptance of alcohol misuse.”

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) claims alcohol-related sponsorship is worth €9m to the organisation while the Football Association of Ireland puts it at €6m and the GAA insists it is only a small portion of overall revenue.

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