The abolition of 10-packs of cigarettes from today will help stop children experimenting with smoking, Minister for State Sean Power has told a conference in Dublin.
The one-day Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) conference, "Children, Youth and Tobacco: Causes, Consequences and Action", coincides with the World Health Organization's "World No Tobacco Day" and is exploring ways to curb the high numbers of young Irish people experimenting with tobacco.
Prof Luke Clancy, chairman of Ash Ireland
Mr Power, Minister for State at the Department of Health and Children joined ASH Ireland in welcoming the sales ban on packs of 10 and any confectionery that resemble cigarettes.
"The majority of smokers become addicted in their childhood and teenage years, and research has clearly shown that price is an important factor in young people deciding not to smoke," Mr Power said.
Ash Ireland has called the ban an important development in the overall fight against tobacco-related disease, impacting on the sales of cigarettes to "price sensitive" young people.
"The banning of the ten pack is a welcome development and will hopefully impact on sales to young people," Prof Luke Clancy, chairman of Ash Ireland, said.
It is estimated 16 per cent of Ireland's young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are regular smokers.
A 2006 Office of Tobacco Control study found that 78 per cent of smokers began smoking before age 18 and that 53 per cent began before age 15.
Today's conference is the first of its kind in Ireland and features speeches from world experts on the tobacco industry and tobacco control..
Speaking before the conference opening, Prof Kenneth Warner, dean of public health at the University of Michigan, said the tobacco industry loses over 8,000 customers a year because of people quitting and a further 5,700 who die from smoking-related illness.
"Therefore, for the industry to simply maintain the size of its customer base in Ireland, over 50 Irish kids have to start smoking every day of the year."
Prof Warner said that the banning of "kiddie packs" is just one step of many that needed to be taken.
Health chiefs at today's conference will also be looking at the effects of active and passive smoking.
The event at Croke Park is being chaired by Dr Fenton Howell, director of public health, HSE Dublin North-East, and 12 experts, including Prof Luke Clancy of the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society.