Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 26th May, 2023.

I, STEPHEN DONNELLY, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5 (1) and 12 (10) of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (No. 24 of 2018) having taken into account any expert research made available to me on the effectiveness of including the matters referred to in paragraphs (i) to (vi) of subsection (1) of section 12 of that Act on alcohol product containers, documents, notices and websites referred to in that section and, having regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (11) of that section, hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

Preliminary and general

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Public Health (Alcohol) (Labelling) Regulations 2023.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 22^nd day of May 2026

3. In these Regulations –

“Act of 2018” means the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (No. 24 of 2018);

“health information” means the information referred to in paragraphs (iv), (v) and (vi) of section 12(1) of the Act of 2018;

“health symbol” means the symbol referred to in paragraph (2) of Regulation 5;

“health warning” means a warning referred to in paragraph (1) or (3) of Regulation 5.

PART 2

Information on alcohol product containers

4. This Part applies to information on alcohol product containers.

5. (1) The following health warning is prescribed for the purpose of section 12(1)(i) of the Act of 2018 and shall, subject to Regulation 6, be set out in the form provided for in Schedule 1:

“Drinking alcohol causes liver disease”.

(2) The symbol set out in Schedule 2 is prescribed for the purpose of section 12(1)(ii) of the Act of 2018 and shall, subject to Regulation 6, be set out in the form provided for in Schedule 1.

(3) The following health warning is prescribed for the purpose of section 12(1)(iii) of the Act of 2018 and shall, subject to Regulation 6, be set out in the form provided for in Schedule 1:

“There is a direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers”.

6. (1) Subject to Regulation 9, the health warnings and health symbol shall be of the following proportions:

(a) the surface area reserved for the health warning referred to in paragraph (1) of Regulation 5 shall have a width of not less than 45 millimetres and height of not less than 10 millimetres and shall not contain anything other than that warning;

(b) the surface area reserved for the health symbol referred to in paragraph (2) of Regulation 5 shall have a width of not less than 15 millimetres and height of not less than 15 millimetres and shall not contain anything other than that symbol, and

(c) the surface area reserved for the health warning referred to in paragraph (3) of Regulation 5 shall have a width of not less than 45 millimetres and height of not less than 15 millimetres and shall not contain anything other than that warning.

(2) The text of the health warnings shall be:

(a) printed in Times New Roman bold type on a white background;

(b) printed in upper-case type;

(c) printed in colour Pantone reference 2035 or a like red colour and in indelible ink;

(d) printed at such a font size so as to occupy the greatest possible proportion of the surface reserved for the text of the warning;

(e) printed in normal, weighted, regular typeface;

(f) positioned at the centre of each surface reserved for such warnings and in the same direction as the majority of other written information on the container.

(3) The health symbol shall be:

(a) printed at such size so as to occupy the greatest possible proportion of the surface reserved for the symbol;

(b) printed in indelible ink in black and in colour Pantone reference 2035 or a like red colour as provided for in Schedule 2;

(c) printed on a white background;

(d) printed in such manner that the red line across the human figure does not obscure the outline shape of the figure;

(e) positioned at the centre of each surface reserved for such symbol and in the same direction as the majority of other written information on the container.

7. (1) Subject to Regulation 9 –

(a) the surface area reserved for the health information referred to in paragraphs (iv) and (v) of section 12(1) of the Act of 2018 shall have a width of not less than 15 millimetres and a height of not less than 15 millimetres and shall not contain anything other than the health information referred to in those paragraphs,

(b) the surface area reserved for the health information prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (vi) of section 12(1) of the Act of 2018 shall have a width of not less than 45 millimetres and a height of not less than 5 millimetres and shall not contain anything other than the health information so prescribed.

(2) The text of the health information referred to in section 12(1)(iv) and (v) of the Act of 2018 shall be:

(a) printed in black Times New Roman bold type on a white background in the form set out in Schedule 1;

(b) printed at such a font size so as to occupy the greatest possible proportion of the surface reserved for the health information;

(c) printed in normal, weighted, regular typeface;

(d) printed in lower-case type, other than as provided for in Schedule 1;

(e) positioned at the centre of each surface reserved for such health information and in the same direction as the majority of other information on the container.

(3) “Visit www.askaboutalcohol.ie” is prescribed for the purpose of section 12(1)(vi) of the Act of 2018 and shall be:

(a) printed in Times New Roman bold type on a white background in the form set out in Schedule 1;

(b) printed in black indelible ink;

(c) printed at such font size so as to occupy the greatest possible proportion of the surface reserved for the text;

(d) printed in normal, weighted, regular typeface;

(e) printed in lower-case type other than the first letter which shall be in upper-case type;

(f) positioned at the centre of each surface reserved for such health information and in the same direction as the majority of other information on the container.

8. Subject to Regulation 9, the combined area reserved for the health warnings, health symbol and health information shall have a width of not less than 60 millimetres and a height of not less than 30 millimetres and shall be surrounded by a black border not less than one millimetre and not more than 2 millimetres which shall appear outside the combined area reserved for the health warnings and health information.

9. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), in the case of an alcohol product the largest surface area of the container of which has an area of less than 80 square centimetres, the area reserved for the health warnings, health symbol and health information shall cover an area of not less than 75 per cent of the area provided in Regulations 6(1), 7(1) and 8 respectively.

(2) The health warnings, health symbol and health information on the container of an alcohol product referred to in paragraph (1) may be attached to the container concerned by means of an adhesive flag label.

10. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), the health warnings, health symbol and health information on the container of an alcohol product shall be –

(a) included as part of the manufacturer’s label attached to the container of the alcohol product,

(b) included on a sticker affixed to the container of the alcohol product,

or

(c) stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on the container of the alcohol product.

(2) The health warnings, health symbol and health information included on the container of an alcohol product in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be affixed in a manner that ensures –

(a) that they are not easily removable, and

(b) that they remain intact when the container of the alcohol product is opened.

PART 3

Document provided with alcohol sold in reusable containers

11. (1) The document set out in Schedule 3 is prescribed for the purposes of section 12(3) of the Act of 2018.

(2) The document prescribed in paragraph (1) shall:

(a) be printed on white paper of at least A4 size;

(b) contain the text set out in Schedule 3 in Times New Roman bold type of at least font size 24;

(c) subject to paragraph (d), be in red font in upper-case type as set out in Schedule 3; and

(d) contain the information in relation to alcohol content and details of the website in black font in lower-case type as set out in Schedule 3.

PART 4

Notice to be displayed by licensee

12. (1) The notice set out in Schedule 4 is prescribed for the purpose of section 12(4) of the Act of 2018.

(2) The notice prescribed in paragraph (1) shall:

(a) be at least A4 size;

(b) be printed on white paper or cardboard which may be laminated;

(c) contain the text as set out in Schedule 4;

(d) be printed in Times New Roman bold type of at least font size 18;

(e) subject to paragraph (f), be in red font in upper-case type as set out in Schedule 4;

(f) contain the information in relation to alcohol content and details of the website in black font in lower-case type as set out in Schedule 4.

(3) The holder of a licence shall display at least one notice referred to in paragraph (1) adjacent, or in close proximity, to each public entrance to his or her licenced premises.

PART 5

On-line sales of alcohol products

13. (1) The text set out in Schedule 5 is prescribed for the purposes of paragraphs (a) to (c) and paragraph (f) of section 12(5) of the Act of 2018 and shall be displayed on the website of the holder of a licence who sells or causes to be sold alcohol products on-line.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1) the information shall –

(a) be displayed on any page of the website on which an alcohol product or alcohol products are displayed for sale,

(b) be clearly visible to a person viewing the website, and

(c) appear in a clear legible script, in red font which shall be in upper-case type.

(3) For the purposes of paragraphs (d) and (e) of section 12(5) of the Act of 2018 the quantity in grams of alcohol and the energy value expressed in kilojoules and kilocalories of each alcohol product displayed on the website referred to in paragraph (1), shall –

(a) be clearly visible to a person viewing the website,

(b) appear in a clear legible script, in black font, and

(c) be in close proximity to the description or representation of the product to which it applies.

Schedule 1

Schedule 2

Schedule 3

Schedule 4

Schedule 5

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

18 May, 2023.

STEPHEN DONNELLY,

Minister for Health.