Growing pressure to drop tobacco pack ban

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is facing growing pressure from business leaders here and abroad to drop Ireland’s radical move to ban branded tobacco packaging.

Employers’ group Ibec has warned him to “pause” the legislation or it will “expose the Irish State to higher costs from compensation” arising from legal challenges.

The US Chamber of Commerce has also told Mr Kenny, ahead of meeting him in Washington DC next month, that the ban “potentially violates important aspects of Ireland’s international commitments”.