Fury over FG TD’s call to cut tobacco excise

THE stop smoking lobby group Ash has lashed Fine Gael’s enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar for questioning the effectiveness of expensive excise duties in preventing people from smoking.

Ash said there was international evidence underpinning the Government’s decision to increase the price of cigarettes by 50 cent, and it helped price young people out of the market.

“There is international evidence to suggest the best measure in relation to deterring young people in particular from taking up smoking is price,” a spokesman said.

Yesterday Mr Varadkar, who graduated from medical school as a GP, suggested the competitiveness of the country would be improved by reversing the excise increases included in the last budget.

“The first thing would be to reverse the increases in VAT and excise duties,” he said.

In the budget, Minister Brian Lenihan made three moves on excise duty, along with the 0.5% increase in the level of VAT.

He added 50 cent to the price of a 20-packet of cigarettes, 50 cent on wine and 8 cent on a litre of petrol.

Afterwards, Mr Varadkar said he did not want to encourage smoking but he was unconvinced the price had the desired impact on habits.

He said recent studies on empty cigarette packets discarded at football matches in Britain suggested many boxes were smuggled in from cheaper countries.

The proposal was part of Fine Gael’s 10-point plan to lower business costs.

It included a proposal to create a more powerful body to enforce competition and ensure retailers are passing on all savings to customers.

Mr Varadkar suggested the remit of the Small Claims Court should also be extended to reflect the actual price of consumer goods.

The party’s spokesman on energy regulation, Simon Coveney, said the philosophy on regulation of the electricity and gas industry had also to be addressed.

He said previously prices were kept high to attract competitors from abroad but this was no longer sustainable in a climate of recession.

“We should be looking for a double digit price reduction from the ESB right now and a price reduction from Bord Gáis of between 5% and 10%,” he said.