TOBACCO PRODUCTS:The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes went up by 30 cent at midnight following yesterday's Budget. There will be pro-rata increases on other tobacco products.
Announcing the price increase Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said the move was an attempt to cut smoking rates.
"This increase serves to underline the desire of us all to curtail the consumption of tobacco in the interests of improved public health. I believe this measure should be welcomed generally," he said.
However, there was no increase levied on the price of a pint or other alcoholic beverages. But Mr Cowen gave notice that there will be changes in this area in the next budget.
"It has . . . been suggested to me that there might be public health benefits arising from a switch to lower-alcohol beverages.
"This will require some study, and indeed some adjustments by industry - I am giving notice now that I intend to bring forward measures in this area in my next budget," he said.
The suggestion is that tax may be raised on drinks with a higher alcohol content and lowered on low-alcohol drinks.
The Office of Tobacco Control welcomed the decision to increase the price of cigarettes but the anti-smoking lobby ASH Ireland, the Irish Heart Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society expressed disappointment with the level of the price increase. They had sought a €2 increase on packs of 20 cigarettes.
Prof Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH Ireland, said: "As the price of cigarettes has only been increased twice in the past four years, cigarettes are in real terms cheaper than in the past. The fact that cigarettes are in reality cheaper is an encouragement for people to commence and to continue smoking."
John McCormack, chief executive of the Irish Cancer Society, said the Government was facilitating a direct resurgence in smoking levels, especially in women and young people generally.
Dr Joe Barry, who was a member of the strategic taskforce on alcohol, said he would have liked to have seen an increase in tax on alcohol but he welcomed the acknowledgment by Mr Cowen that taxation has a legitimate place in public health policy in relation to alcohol.
The Health Service Executive had recommended a 10 per cent rise in excise duty on alcohol in advance of the Budget.