Updated / Wednesday, 17 Jun 2026 15:14
The report says the risk from alcohol consumption between men and women is minimal (stock image)
Irish guidelines on what constitutes low-risk alcohol consumption may need to be reconsidered based on latest research, according to a new report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
The report also says there is no strong basis for the sex-specific thresholds and that the difference in risk between men and women is minimal.
HIQA says there is a substantial amount of risk associated with low levels of alcohol consumption.
The existing HSE guidelines define low-risk as fewer than 11 standard drinks for women and fewer than 17 standard drinks a week for men.
A standard unit is half a pint of beer, one small glass of wine or one pub measure of spirits.
The last review of the guidelines here was in 2015.
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HIQA has also published a second report which models the risk of death and admission to hospital due to alcohol consumption.
It found that alcohol was estimated to account for on average 1,420 deaths and 27,066 hospital admissions a year, between 2022 and 2024.
The risk of death before age 75, death at any age, years of life lost and the rate of hospital admissions all grew in line with increasing alcohol consumption.
The reports say there is no clear risk-free level of alcohol consumption.
How weekly drinks are consumed and over how many days is also important, HIQA says.
The review found no firm conclusions from the international literature on the impact of alcohol consumption on mental health.
HIQA's Deputy Director of Health Technology Assessment Michelle O’Neill said the research published today shows a clear link between increased alcohol consumption and mortality and hospital admission rates.
Alcohol Action Ireland said it has been advocating for a revision of Ireland's low-risk guidelines to reflect current understanding of the health risks associated with alcohol.
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It said today's reports from HIQA underline the need for the Department of Health to update the guidelines without delay.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Chairperson of Alcohol Action Ireland Professor Frank Murray said: "First of all, we know that alcohol doesn't prolong life. There aren't benefits from consuming alcohol and secondly, the harms of alcohol begin at very low levels, particularly for women and particularly for cancers."
Prof Murray said an interesting finding in the HIQA report is that "risk is a continuum", where risks begin at very low levels of consumption and increase with higher drinking levels.
"For instance, in the Canadian guidelines, they say less than three drinks a week in our terms would indicate that you're likely to avoid alcohol-related consequences for yourself and others. But once you get above that, there's an increase in risk of harms from alcohol," Prof Murray said.
"In Canada, they say that if you use between roughly four and eight standard drinks per week, your risk of developing several types of cancer increases. And if you drink more than 10 drinks a week, your risk of heart disease and stroke increase," he added.
In a statement, the Department of Health said the guidelines were last reviewed in 2015 and the next step will be to translate the evidence into guidelines. The department added that work will begin shortly.
Read full HIQA report here
Read the full article at RTÉ News →
Ireland