Analysis: Health labelling is one of a suite of measures aiming to reduce alcohol consumption levels and associated harms in Ireland
The recent decision to delay the introduction of health labelling of alcohol products in Ireland is a timely reminder that policy enactment does not necessarily guarantee the speedy implementation of policy measures. Estimates indicate that an average of four deaths every day in Ireland are alcohol related and about 1,000 alcohol-related cancers are diagnosed each year.
Health labelling is one of a suite of measures contained in the Public Health (Alcohol) Act, a milestone piece of legislation that aims to reduce alcohol consumption levels and associated harms in Ireland. The Act marks the first time that the Irish government has taken a public health approach to alcohol policy through measures affecting the wider population rather than solely high-risk individuals.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Prof Frank Murray from Alcohol Action Ireland says decision to defer alcohol health labels is disappointing
Although the Act was passed into law in October 2018, some of its measures have yet to be introduced, including the health labelling of alcohol products. Ireland was set to become one of the first countries in the world to introduce comprehensive alcohol labelling under section 12 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act.
What is health labelling?
Health labelling is where health warnings and information are added to labels on bottles and cans of alcohol. This includes warnings of the direct link between alcohol and cancer as well as liver disease, a pregnancy warning graphic, the calorie and alcohol content per container and a weblink providing independent public health information on alcohol.
Research shows that alcohol health labelling can influence consumers’ drinking. One study found that labels may be an effective part of policies designed to address population-level alcohol-related harms, with multiple rotating messages being particularly effective.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also endorses health warnings on alcohol labels as a key component of comprehensive alcohol policy. It highlights that providing health warnings through the product label reaches a broader range of consumers than information provided through other channels. Labelling also addresses consumers’ right to know about the risks from alcohol.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, listeners discuss the pros and cons of alcohol health labelling
Health labelling of alcohol products in Ireland was set to become a legal requirement for producers in May 2026. The policy measure was originally signed into law in May 2023, giving producers a three-year lead-in time to implementation. But implementation of this public health measure experienced a further setback in recent months when the Government announced a delay in its implementation until 2028. The decision to further delay alcohol health labelling has generated criticism and frustration among those advocating for a public health approach to alcohol control.
What is causing the delay?
In media reports, the Government attributed its decision to economic considerations, notably the new trade environment and the increased pressure on the drinks industry due to US trade tariffs. Alcohol Action Ireland argued that labelling will have absolutely no impact on exports as it applies only to alcohol products sold in Ireland. They add that the consequences of this delay will be far-reaching and "felt by ordinary Irish people every day".
The debate for and against such policy measures highlights an important point raised in our recent study on implementation of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act: that is, the "politics of implementation". Just because policies are enacted, it does not mean they are immune to "the political tug-of-war between opposing sides".
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From RTÉ Rado 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Prof Janice Walshe, Consultant Medical Oncologist at St Vincent's University Hospital and Neil McDonnell from ISME discuss delays to the rollout of alcohol health labelling
Participants in our study highlighted how industry lobbying continues in the implementation phase of the policy cycle, with the perceived aim of seeking to delay the commencement of measures such as alcohol labelling. Such lobbying may take place not only at national level, but also at European and international levels. The need for sustained public health advocacy in the post-enactment phase is therefore deemed crucial to help withstand the powerful lobbying activities of alcohol industry.
The study findings also underline the importance of high-level leadership at Government level to ensure that political commitment to policies is sustained in the implementation phase. For example, participants perceived a lack of leadership driving policy implementation, arguing that there is no-one driving the agenda for this in government. Such high-level commitment is perceived as critically important in a "contested space" such as alcohol policy, where policy measures are hotly debated and often contentious owing to conflicting interests (eg profit vs public health motive).
But that is not to say that policy implementation is down to one factor alone. Our study systematically maps the multi-level factors that may influence implementation. These include factors related to the inner context in which policies are implemented (e.g. resources & skills needed for implementation), but also the outer context (e.g. the impact of critical incidents such as Covid-19). They also include factors such as characteristics of the policy itself and of the individuals involved in implementation, as well as implementation processes such as planning and evaluation.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, is the growth of zero alcohol beer a good or a bad thing?
Different types of policy stakeholder may highlight different factors. In our study, private sector actors placed a greater emphasis on cost-related factors as perceived barriers to implementation (e.g. cost of implementing labelling). Other participants placed a greater emphasis on the persistence of industry lobbying as a key factor leading to delays to implementation. However, there were also commonalities in the issues raised by participants, including the perceived lack of strategic planning to guide the implementation of policy measures and the aforementioned lack of high-level leadership.
All of this underlines the complexity of implementing public health policies such as alcohol health labelling. Fortunately, the growing field of implementation science offers promise in helping us to better understand the myriad of factors potentially delaying implementation. It also offers us mechanisms to help identify strategies to overcome implementation gaps. As researchers, our aim is to try to shed light on such implementation gaps and to highlight that public health policies do not implement themselves.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ. Drink responsibly
