The Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has said that he is supportive of the vast majority of proposals in Junior Minister Alex White's alcohol strategy.
Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics this afternoon, he said that Ireland has a problem with binge drinking and cheap alcohol.
When asked about proposals to ban drink sponsorship at large sports events, he described the issue as "complicated " and said that whatever is done should be evidence based.
Minister Varadkar added that he would be in favour of putting the current code of conduct for advertising on a statutory basis.
He said Ireland's alcohol consumption is 20% lower than it was 10 years ago, whereas in France, where there is a ban on sponsorship, it has increased.
Separately, the minister also rejected suggestions that Ireland is a tax haven, saying Ireland had a very simple, straight-forward and transparent system of corporate taxation.
He said Ireland does not do special deals with Apple or any other company.
Minister Varadkar said that corporations avail of gaps between legislation in one state and legislation in another in order to reduce their tax bill.
He said the only way to deal with it was through international action.
