Kieran Coughlan: Sugar tax is a not-so-obvious boost for the Irish dairy industry in the budget

The prospect of a new sugar tax on soft drink sales in Ireland might just be a hugely positive catalyst for our agri-food industries.

In his budget speech last week, Minister Michael Noonon suggested that the new tax will be introduced effective from April 2018, to coincide with the introduction of a similar tax by our UK neighbours.

The UK is expected to introduce a two-tiered regime, with a higher charge for drinks with a sugar content of more than 8%, and a lesser charge for drinks between 5% and 8%, with the charges expected to be around 24p and 18p per litre respectively.