AQW 10619/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 19/11/2020
Answered On Date: 01/12/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health what discussions he has had with Executive colleagues with regard to the timescale for bringing forward minimum unit pricing for alcohol legislation, similar to that applying in Scotland.

Answer:

The harms caused by the misuse of alcohol are a major public health issue in Northern Ireland and the introduction of legislation for Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for Alcohol has the potential to be a key population-level health measure to address this issue.

I have therefore recently made a commitment to have a full consultation on MUP once the new substance use strategy for Northern Ireland is launched. This new strategy is currently out for public consultation.

There is no predetermined outcome for this consultation, which will examine a range of possible options in respect of alcohol pricing, including consideration of the emerging evidence of the effectiveness of MUP following its implementation in Scotland and elsewhere.

I have already discussed the issue with the Minister for Communities and will engage further with other Departments as this work progresses. Any policies arising from the consultation will be brought to the Executive in due course.