€80m tax return hike shows anti-smoking ‘failures’

THE €80 million increase in tobacco revenue to the Exchequer is a frightening illustration of the Government’s failure to advance its anti-smoking policies, a tobacco free lobby group has claimed.

Tax returns from tobacco revenue were €128m down in 2004 on the previous year.

The latest figures from the Department of Finance, however, show an €80m increase in tobacco-related excise in 2005, as well as a 4.1% increase in tobacco clearances - the volume of tobacco released into the marketplace.

A spokesman for the department stressed the increase in tobacco revenue was still 12% below a forecast made before the March 2004 smoking ban.

Professor Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH Ireland, said he was not surprised by the latest figures.

The Government’s failure to increase cigarette prices in recent budgets has brought about a situation, he said, where a pack of cigarettes is luringly priced for a younger market.

ASH, which is jointly funded by the Irish Cancer Society and the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), has sought a €2 increase on a pack of 20 cigarettes and other, similar-sized tobacco products.

The failure by the Government to impose any increase has created a situation where Irish tobacco prices are considerably lower than in some European countries, including Britain.

Fears of inflation increases do not justify the minimalist approach to tobacco price increases, ASH claims.

“In real terms, tobacco products are cheaper than this time last year and price is well established as the major contributory factor in smoking cessation and commencement,” said Prof Clancy.

Immense strides made by the Government to reduce the impact of tobacco are losing momentum in a country where almost 7,000 Irish people die from the effects of tobacco related disease each year, he claimed.

The annual report of the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC), published last October, revealed that the number of smokers has dropped to one-in-four, down from one-in-three in 1998.

However, the report also noted that 20% of all teenagers aged between 15 and 18 are taking up the habit. In addition, there has been a slight increase in the overall number of people smoking in the last few months.

OTC chairman Dr Michael Boland has called for more vigorous enforcement of the law to clamp down on the illegal sale of cigarettes to teenagers.

He said that in addition to the recent, slightly upward trend in overall cigarette smoking, the number of young people smoking is extremely worrying.

IHF medical director Dr Brian Maurer said the failure to increase the price of cigarettes in the budget effectively means that cigarettes are now, in effect, cheaper than last year.

Smokers trying to quit, meanwhile, will be able to monitor the changing levels of carbon monoxide in their blood for free, with ‘Smokerlyser’ units set to be installed in 16 Boots stores throughout Ireland.

Boots pharmacist David Carroll said: “If you undergo the Smokerlyzer test regularly, you can analyse the results of quitting smoking and you are sure to see a significant reduction of carbon monoxide in your blood.

“Within days of stopping you’ll see benefits: improved breathing, circulation, taste and smell.

“A year after, your risk of heart attack falls to half that of a smoker.”