1: ADVERTISING:

The 2005 Young People's Forum on Alcohol agreed that alcohol advertising has a "massive negative impact on youth attitudes to drinking". This is backed up by the Department of Health & Children's own research. The negative impact of advertising, however, is not confined to young people.

The Alcohol Advertising Monitoring Body

To the disappointment of health and children's sector organisations and the Green Party, the Government reneged on its promise to regulate alcohol advertising when, in 2005, it dropped the promised Alcohol Products Bill, preferring to ignore expert advice on the issue and allow the alcohol and advertising industries to regulate themselves. This means, in the case of television programmes for example, that even where 33% of the known viewing audience is under 18, alcohol advertising can continue to be accepted by broadcasters. Where codes are breached, the Alcohol Advertising Monitoring Body will approach the relevant organisation and attempt to come to an agreement on the issue. If the Monitoring Body and the organisation cannot reach an agreement on the breach, the matter will be reported to the Minister for Health & Children. It is not specified what action the Minister is required or allowed to take on any such breach of the code. The Alcohol Advertising Monitoring Body has not yet produced an Annual Report for 2006. Therefore, not only is the code weak on regulations for advertisers and broadcasters, the procedures for implementing the regulations and addressing breaches of the code are wholly inadequate.

The Green Party calls for:
1.1: The introduction of statutory regulations on alcohol advertising, including an end to alcohol advertising on television.
1.2: Statutory regulations to be developed in consultation with health and youth and children's organisations.
1.3: Statutory regulations to be strictly enforced and frequently updated and those who contravene them to be subject to strong penalties.
1.4: Statutory regulations on advertising to address the marketing of alcohol products in the displays and windows of supermarkets and shops. It is not acceptable that shops on the main streets of our towns and cities fill their window displays with special offers on alcohol.