Plastic bag levy increases by six cent

The plastic bag levy is going up by six cent in an attempt to curb the increasing popularity of the bags amongst consumers.

It will rise from 15 to 22 cent by the end of this month, even though environmental groups want it to go up even more.

The levy was introduced in March 2002 to reduce the use of plastic bags which could be seen in their thousands littering towns and the countryside.

In the 12 months after it was introduced, 85 million were sold, but 115 million were sold in 2005, giving rise to fears that the effectiveness of the tax is wearing off.

Friends of the Earth Ireland said the levy should be doubled from its current level to 30 cent, on the fifth anniversary of the tax in March.

The Government has raised more than €50m from the levy since its introduction.