The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 is a significant piece of Irish legislation. Although it entered into law eight years’ ago, it has been implemented in stages.
For example, it introduced minimum unit pricing for alcohol and more recently on 10 January 2025, section 19 of the Act came into force. Since then, it has been unlawful to broadcast an advertisement for an alcohol product on a television programme service between 3 am and 9 pm. A similar broadcast watershed applies to radio advertising for alcohol products.
There is a wide range of published material linking alcohol consumption with adverse health conditions, including cancer. The length of hospital admissions for alcohol related diagnoses has increased, with the significant consequences this has for financial and other resources in the health sector. Even light to moderate drinking levels can have a negative health effect.
On 22 May 2026, the remaining parts of section 12 of the Act, ‘Labelling of alcohol products and notices in licensed premises’ will come into law. This will provide clear and unequivocal warnings of the dangers of alcohol consumption.
Section 12 (1) stipulates that an alcohol container must bear certain information and the detail of what that is to be and how it is to be displayed is contained in the Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023 (made under section 12 (10) of the Act).
The section 12 (1) information is (followed by the relevant information prescribed in the Regulations):
(i) a warning that is intended to inform the public of the danger of alcohol consumption,
‘Drinking alcohol causes liver disease’
(ii) a warning that is intended to inform the public of the danger of alcohol consumption when pregnant,
(iii) a warning that is intended to inform the public of the direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers,
‘There is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers’
(iv) the quantity in grams of alcohol contained in the container concerned,
The calculation method is prescribed in section 12 (16) (a) of the Act
(v) the energy value expressed in kilojoules and kilocalories contained in the container concerned,
Calculated using the conversion factors in Annex XIV of Regulation 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (section 12 (16) (b) of the Act) and
(vi) details of a website, to be established and maintained by the Executive, providing public health information in relation to alcohol consumption.
The required format is set out in Schedule 1 to the 2023 Regulations:
Reusable containers must be accompanied by a document which bears the prescribed information.
There are requirements for similarly worded warnings to be placed in licensed premises and on websites where alcohol is sold online.
To ensure clarity and consistency of the message, the 2023 Regulations are very precise about how the information is to be displayed in the various settings (on the container, on a document with a reusable container, in licensed premises and online).
Failure to comply with these labelling obligations is an offence.
Failure to comply with the provisions in the 2018 Act may result in the issuing of a fixed penalty notice, a compliance notice or a criminal prosecution (the level of fine and maximum term of imprisonment depends on which provision has been breached).
Depending on your perspective, these new labelling rules are either draconian and the by-product of a ‘Nanny State’, or they provide vital health information about the dangers of alcohol consumption. Analogous arguments may be made about Ireland’s tobacco health warning labelling laws.
Either way, only time will tell whether the ‘scare tactics’ have worked because alcohol consumption has fallen and the adverse health effects on individuals and wider society have diminished.
Despite the legislative impact on alcohol consumption patterns, there is little doubt that many still find pleasure in alcohol in social gatherings.
I am not sure seeing the new warnings will make me go ‘teetotal’, but they seeing might make me, and others, think more carefully about how much and how often we consume alcohol.