A cross-party committee is set to oppose the banning of alcohol sponsorship of major sporting events such as the Heineken Cup, as cabinet divisions on the issue continue.
Labour junior minister Alex White has sent a memo proposing to halt such alcohol sponsorship by 2020, and to ban any new deals from 2016.
The Oireachtas Transport and Communications Committee is due to issue its report later this month, with a "big majority" of members opposed to banning alcohol sponsorship of sporting events.
Its chairman, Fine Gael TD Tom Hayes, said members believed it would cost a lot to replace the sports sponsorship provided by drinks companies.
Mr Hayes said the Cabinet would have to consider factors such as the heavy dependence on alcohol sponsorship that the IRFU and the FAI had.
"If they are to go by the views of the vast majority of the members of the committee, they would hold off on it," he said.
However, the report will also include the dissenting views of Labour TD Eamonn Maloney, who has said that sports sponsorship allows the drinks industry to portray alcohol "as a harmless substance".
Source: Michael Brennan, Irish Independent, 04/06/13
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