Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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216. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 107, 108, 109 and 110 of 9 October 2014, if his Department has been consulted by the Department of Health on the issues raised in the detailed opinions submitted by the EU member states; if his Department will have input into the preparation of the Department of Health response to the European Commission; if his Department shares any of the concerns raised by the EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48022/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013 is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Health. The Bill was formally notified to the Commission and to Member States under the EU Technical Standards Directive (98/34/EC) and the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) on 17th June 2014. At the same time, formal notification was made to the World Trade Organisation under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement under the Technical Standards process. The Commission and Member States had until 18th September to comment or provide detailed opinions on the proposed measures. Detailed opinions on the proposed measures have been received from a number of Member States. For this reason, the standstill period has increased by another three months to 18 December 2014. The legislative process cannot continue until after this standstill period.

I understand that the Minister for Health is considering Ireland's response to the Commission in relation to the issues raised, in consultation with other relevant Government Departments.