HSE's spend on quit-smoking aids doubles to €20m but Irish Heart Foundation says it should be €50m

The €20.1m HSE anti-smoking spend includes subsidising quit smoking aids such as patches as well as staff costs. 

The HSE budget for supporting people to quit smoking has almost doubled in ten years to over €20m but the Irish Heart Foundation says €50m is needed.

New HSE data shows a spend of €20.1m last year compared to €11.2m in 2015. This includes subsidising quit smoking aids such as patches as well as staff costs.

Irish Heart Foundation senior policy manager Mark Murphy described the increase as “very much welcome”.

However, he said: “We’ve been calling for the level of funding to go to €50m. It needs to be rapidly increased.

“Obviously it’s great that in the last 10 years it’s gone from €11 or €12m to €20m.” 

He pointed out more people use the services now.

“We know the demand for the HSE Quit service is through the roof,” he said, adding: “We are really keen for the level of funding to be increased to meet that demand.” 

HSE spent 10m on patches and other aids 

The HSE spend on patches and other aids stood at just over €10m last year, up from €8.4m in 2015. Costs for the national Quitline reached €655,596 up from €284,106 in 2015.

Costs for the We Can Quit programme, started in 2021, have doubled as it becomes more popular reaching €421,386 last year.

The data was released to Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, who said: “I think it is money well spent”.

He warned that smoking has “a huge impact” on the health services despite the “huge inroads” made in reducing numbers smoking.

Over 100 people die every week and over 1,000 people are hospitalised from smoking-related illness in Ireland according to the HSE. 

A HSE spokeswoman said it also has submitted a business case and estimate bid to the Department of Health to develop a pilot programme for quitting e-cigarettes. 

The services have seen "an increasing number of clients" looking for help to stop dual-use of tobacco and vaping, she added. It is also see a rise in numbers of people trying to quit vaping alone. 

"People who smoke are almost twice as likely to have a long-standing illness compared to those who don’t smoke, and each day require support from our primary and community care services," she said.