Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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175. To ask the Minister for Health in view of the differentiation within the EU Tobacco Products Directive between cigars and cigarettes, the fact that the cigar smoking rate is 0.9%, the proposals of the UK Department of Health to exclude specialist tobacco products from its packaging legislation, his views on exempting cigar packaging from the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39025/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014 covers all tobacco products legally available for retail sale in Ireland. All tobacco products have been shown to negatively affect health and as such it was considered appropriate that all tobacco products should be treated equally under the Bill.

The preamble to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which Ireland has signed and ratified, states that there is no distinction made between tobacco products and the harm that they cause. Article 11 of the FCTC concerns the packaging and labelling of tobacco products, and the guidelines issued by the WHO for its implementation request that Parties to the Treaty consider adopting standardised packaging for all tobacco products: “Parties should ensure that the packaging and labelling provisions related to Article 11 of the Convention apply equally to alltobacco products sold within the jurisdiction.”

There is a wealth of experience internationally that shows the necessity for a comprehensive approach in tobacco control. The evidence base shows that standardised packaging will impact on the consumption of tobacco products, including cigars, in that it will reduce the appeal of tobacco products and will encourage cessation, whilst at the same time reducing the ability of the packaging of each of these products to mislead consumers about the harmful effects of smoking.

As Deputy has pointed out, the UK has not included cigars and pipe tobacco in their draft standardised packaging regulations. If the UK decides to go ahead with this initiative the resulting regulations will be made under their Children and Families Act 2014. The proposed Irish legislation is not confined to any specific age group. From a public health perspective, Ireland has taken the decision to reduce smoking of all tobacco products, and not just cigarettes, to a prevalence rate of less than 5% by 2025. All smokers, irrespective of the type of product they consume deserve the same level of protection as do those who consume cigarettes. The standardised or plain packaging legislation already introduced in Australia covers all tobacco products, including cigars.