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This resolution provides for excise duty increases on tobacco products with effect from midnight tonight. The increase amounts to 50 cent, inclusive of VAT, on a packet of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category, together with pro rata increases for other tobacco products. The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category, assuming the full increase is passed through to the final retail price, will increase to €15.80. The excise duty component of this price will be €9.43 and the total tax inclusive of VAT will be €12.38. This represents 78% of the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes. The pro rata increase on the price of a typical pouch of roll-your-own tobacco will increase by 69 cent to a price of €22.69.

Ireland is committed to a policy of high taxation on tobacco. We are committed to this in order to encourage people to quit smoking, particularly younger people, and so they do not start smart smoking in the first place. I am delighted to say the policy is working. In 2007, 29% of people in Ireland were daily smokers. By contrast, the latest Healthy Ireland figures for 2021 show that the figure has dropped to 16%. The initiatives of taxation and other public health measures are working. Increasing tobacco product taxation is an important public health policy measure to continue this downward trend in smoking in Ireland. Our objective is to have a tobacco-free Ireland by 2025.

With regard to raising revenue, the increase in tobacco product tax and the minimum excise duty is estimated to contribute €43.3 million in a full year. I see this resolution as an important part of the Government's policy to encourage people to give up smoking or, indeed, not start smoking in the first place.

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