Price promotions on alcohol products in Ireland are banned from today onwards.

New regulations governing the sale of alcohol in Ireland are now in effect in Ireland, regulations which are designed to restrict price promotions of alcohol products. From today (11 January), it is prohibited to award or use loyalty card points for the purchase of alcohol, while the sale of an alcohol product at a reduced price for a limited period or because it is sold with another product or service is also banned. In essence, this means an end to deals that had been available in a number of supermarkets and off-licenses in Ireland, such as, for example, six bottles of wine for €40 or 25% off when you buy six bottles of wine. The new regulations introduced today are the latest in a series of measures outlined in the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, some of which, such as minimum unit pricing on alcohol, have yet to be enacted. The regulations have been welcomed by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, who said their introduction is “further progress toward our objective of reducing harmful drinking and the health harms of alcohol consumption in our country”. "A young person consuming the same volume of alcohol as an adult drinker is at risk of greater harm to his or her health with a particular risk to the developing adolescent brain,” Donnelly said. "One of the primary objectives of our Public Health (Alcohol) Act is to delay the initiation of alcohol consumption by children and young people. These regulations will ensure that price promotions which result in the sale of alcohol products at pocket money prices cannot continue.” "Alcohol is not like other grocery products because of its harmful health effects,” Donnelly added. “These regulations mean that price promotions which apply to other groceries can no longer be used for alcohol products. “The coming into force of these regulations is further progress toward our objective of reducing harmful drinking and the health harms of alcohol consumption in our country.”