Cigarette plain packaging views ‘misrepresented’

In her letter (Aug 9) Cliona McCormack of the Irish Heart Foundation either deliberately or accidentally misrepresented the stated position of the minister for finance on the introduction of plain packaging of cigarettes.

The minister did not say, as Ms McCormack claims, that the Revenue believe plain packaging would not impact on their work against the illicit trade. He said that the Revenue’s view is that it is unlikely to significantly affect this work.

This does not mean that plain packaging will not impact the huge volume of illicit cigarettes flooding the Irish market, and the minister has also stated that the Revenue will raise any other matter that might impact on their ability to deal with the illicit tobacco market during the preparation of legislation.