Children are still being sold cigarettes in two out of five shops, it emerged today.

AT LEAST €1 should be added to the price of a packet of cigarettes to discourage young people from smoking, the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC) said yesterday.

TWENTY retailers were prosecuted last year for selling cigarettes to children, but inspectors discovered three out of every 10 shops are breaching anti-smoking laws.

Nearly half of all shops in Ireland do not ask children under the age of 18 for ID if they are purchasing cigarettes, according to a survey commissioned by the Office of Tobacco Control.

CIGARETTES went up by 30 cent per packet of 20 from midnight last night, but the cost of the other so-called old reliables, alcohol and petrol, have drawn criticism despite the fact they remain unchanged.

One in three Irish teens as young as 15 years admitted to being “really drunk” during the past month, an international survey found today.

ONE-IN-SEVEN pubs inspected by health officials last year were found to be in breach of the smoking ban.

Thirty-one pubs, three cabbies and one bus driver were prosecuted for breaking the smoking ban last year, it emerged today.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney is to announce a ban on the sale of ten-pack cigarettes in the coming days, after a new survey found 16% of children aged between 12-17 are smokers.