Up in smoke

IRISH smokers bought 55 million fewer packs of 20 this year - mostly as a result of the smoking ban.

Department of Finance figures show 1.1 billion fewer cigarettes were sold this year, costing the Exchequer €128m in lost excise duty.

The Taxation Statistics Budget 2005 document released by the Department of Finance, in advance of next week's budget, estimates that sales of cigarettes will be down by 17.6% by the end of the year.