Noonan rejects tax on sugary food and drinks

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has shot down plans for a potential 20% sugary drinks and food tax despite Health Minister Leo Varadkar calling for the policy to be imposed as part of a “suite of measures” to tackle Ireland’s obesity crisis.

The plan will not be included in next week’s budget due to difficulties over what products would and would not be targeted and fears it could create a sugary food and drinks black market in the same way as measures to address smoking habits created one for cigarettes.

At the Government’s Healthy Ireland report launch yesterday, Mr Varadkar said while the tax is not the silver bullet needed to combat rising obesity and diabetes levels, he believes it is needed as part of a “suite of measures” to address the health crisis.

The health minister mirrored previous calls from doctors’ groups and his direct predecessor James Reilly to say while research suggests the tax is “pretty far down the list in terms of what’s most effective” compared to “portion size, reformulation, even weight-loss surgery” it “should be part of the suite of measures we do because obesity is caused by so many different things”.

On Tuesday, Mr Varadkar told the Oireachtas health committee he had “recently written” to Finance Minister Michael Noonan seeking the sugary sweets tax in the upcoming budget.

However, while the request is based on detailed research by the Department of Health on how the plan could benefit the country and has been considered by the Department of Finance, it is understood it will not be included in Mr Noonan’s announcement’s next week.

The department is thought to have concerns over the length of time it would take to decide which items should be included or not.