Former minister 'plucked out of the air' exorbitant licensing fees to sell tobacco products, High Court told

One-off €50 registration fee for selling products to be replaced with fee of €1,800 every time license is renewed

Vincent Jennings, CEO of the CSNA, said in an affidavit that it is 'hard not to draw the inference that these exorbitant figures were simply plucked out of the air and are inherently arbitrary'. 

A retailers group has claimed in the High Court that the previous minister for health, Stephen Donnelly, introduced exorbitant new licensing fees for selling tobacco products which were just "plucked out of the air".

Mr Donnelly, minister for health between 2020 and 2024, brought in regulations in 2024 under the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 which hiked up the old one-off €50 registration fee for selling the products.