Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for their remarks and their contribution to the debate. It is important that we have a debate on this matter. Nobody should be pilloried for their views on this issue. It was interesting to hear the various arguments from different Deputies. The proposed amendments to Financial Resolution No. 1 would reduce the proposed increase in excise duty for tobacco which will apply from midnight tonight. The increase proposed is 50 cents, inclusive of VAT, on a packet of 20 cigarettes for the most popular price category, together with pro rataincreases for other tobacco products. As I stated earlier, increasing taxation on tobacco is a public health policy and it is designed to continue the downward trend in smoking rates in Ireland.

In terms of revenue raising, the increase in the excise duty on tobacco products will raise €56 million in a full year. It is worth noting that €16 million is being provided for Healthy Ireland for campaigns to reduce smoking, obesity and all of those things, and there is a further €35 million for new measures in mental health.

It is not directly hypothecated, but the revenue has to come from somewhere, and this is one of the sources from which it comes.

In 2020, receipts from taxes on tobacco raised €1.201 billion, up from €1.131 billion in 2019. The yield for 2021 is forecast at €1.262 billion. Notwithstanding the fact that it is going up every year, the amount of revenue coming in is also still going up every year. We have not yet reached that point of diminishing returns. The increases every year are still resulting in increased revenue every year, even though fewer people are smoking.

Having said that, it is possible that the increased receipts in 2020 and 2021 were as a result of the restrictions on travel and the availability of non-Irish duty-paid alternatives. The receipts suggest that a continuation of a longer term trend of tobacco excise receipts remaining stable at around €1.1 billion per annum is possible, but as travel resumes again and as duty-free is now possible between Ireland and Great Britain, we will have to watch this area quite closely over the course of the next year.

In terms of investment in public health, which Deputy Boyd Barrett rightly raised, an additional €16 million will be provided next year for public health initiatives. We have seen a significant increase in public health staffing in recent years because of the pandemic. All of these staff need to be retained because there is much to do in public health. There is no better investment in health than in public health, because stopping people getting sick in the first place is the best way to save money in the health service. We have neglected that area for too long. I am glad to see that we have agreement with the public health doctors to give them consultant status. That process is very much under way.

I would strongly encourage people who smoke to get help to give up. It is an addiction and it is hard to give it up on your own, but help is available. Help is there from the HSE Quit team and from GPs. Some Deputies mentioned the hit that people can get from tobacco. That is true, but it can be substituted by nicotine replacement therapy, which is a therapy that GPs can prescribe, is available under the general medical services and the medical card system and costs less than cigarettes and can give people that benefit they have become used to without the cancer-causing chemicals going into their chests and lungs. I would encourage anyone who has not yet tried to quit with help to seek help this time. It is very hard to give up on your own. Perhaps only 20% of people can give up on their own. If you go to your GP or contact the HSE Quit line, they can give you the support that you need. You are three or four times more likely to give up with that extra bit of help. That is now funded under the medical card system.

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