Written answers
Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Department of Health
Tobacco Control Measures
Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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540. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the present rate of the minimum excise duty on cigarettes, with particular reference to public health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43914/23]
Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Tobacco Free Ireland set an overarching goal of having Ireland tobacco free by 2025 (i.e., to achieve a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5% in the Irish population). Tobacco Free Ireland has a series of recommendations to facilitate achieving this goal which seek to denormalise tobacco use and to prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco products. This broad-based suite of recommendations includes, inter alia, the following measures related to raising taxes on tobacco products:
- Annual excise duty increases on tobacco products should be applied over a continuous five-year period.
- Increase duty on roll-your-own and other tobacco products to reduce the price differential between cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Government Decision S180/20/10/1633, relating to Tobacco Free Ireland, recognised the evidence that pricing is a key means of reducing tobacco consumption and contains a commitment that “in recognition of the evidence that pricing is a key means of reducing tobacco consumption, that the Ministers for Health and Finance will together consider additional fiscal measures and those related to illicit trade”.
The level of taxation is ultimately a decision of the Minister for Finance. However, each year I make a pre-Budget submission to the Minister for Finance in relation to the excise duty on tobacco. The excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes has increased yearly by 50 cent since Budget 2016. I will continue to engage with the Minister For Finance in relation to the Minimum Excise Duty on tobacco products in order to achieve a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5% in the Irish population.
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