Consumer group calls for reduction in tobacco tax

A smokers' lobby group has called for a reduction of €1 on a packet of 20 cigarettes to counteract the sale of illicit tobacco and protect "the weakest in society" including children, the elderly and the unemployed.

In a pre-Budget letter to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, the group said: "Tobacco duty in Ireland is already at record levels and it is no coincidence that the country has been described as a tobacco smuggling blackspot. Any reasonable assessment of the impact of increasing tobacco tax above and beyond the existing level must conclude that a further increase will benefit only the smugglers, some of whom have been reported to use children as young as 12 to sell illicit cigarettes door-to-door, and as young as seven at open air markets.

"It makes economic sense to not only freeze the tax on tobacco for another year, but to reduce the tax by €1 per packet of 20 cigarettes. This would not only encourage those who choose to smoke to purchase their tobacco via legal channels, it would also help maximise revenue to the Exchequer."

The group also urged the Government to consider the social harm that could result from a further increase in tobacco taxation.

"Excessive taxation on consumer goods hits the elderly and the less well-off harder than anyone. In a recession we believe it is immoral to penalise those who can least afford the increase that the tobacco control industry is demanding.

Forest Eireann dismissed a demand by Ash Ireland for an increase of €1 on a packet of 20 cigarettes in the budget.

Spokesman John Mallon said: "Evidence suggests that excessive taxation encourages smuggling and criminality, and that in turn leads to a loss in revenue and an increase in overall consumption because of the sheer volume of cheap tobacco that is available on the black market.

"Governments must protect the weakest in society and we believe that increasing the tax on tobacco will make children, the elderly and the unemployed more vulnerable to the smugglers and the criminal gangs."