Industry ‘spent millions’ to scupper cigarette-pack plan

A single tobacco company employed 161 lobbyists and spent millions of euro in an “unprecedented” attempt to shoot down a key EU directive behind Ireland’s groundbreaking plain-packaging cigarette laws.

Children’s Minister James Reilly revealed the extent of the pressure to scrap the plan during a speech to the World Health Organisation.

At the group’s three-yearly international meeting on tobacco issues in Abu Dhabi, the minister confirmed the industry has repeatedly tried to prevent the introduction of plain packaging. This included one unnamed firm that hired 161 lobbyists and spent “millions” to stop a 2013 EU directive allowing the measure, a move Dr Reilly said shows the “full influence of the tobacco industry at work”.