To mark World Cancer Day yesterday, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) have urged the Irish government to raise the prices of cigarettes to €30 by 2020.
Currently, a packet of cigarettes costs $25 (€17.60) in Australia, with the Australian government vowing to hike the price up to $40 (€28.50) by 2020.
The Irish Cancer Society are urging the Irish government to follow suit.
The ICS have highlighted that smoking causes one in four cancer-related deaths, and that raising tobacco taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of people who smoke.
2,860 people die each year in Ireland due to the harmful effects of smoking.
Although cigarettes are now over €11 a packet in Ireland, the ICS want to see them becoming more expensive as it will deter young people from picking up the habit.
Eurostat figures show that as of December 2016, Ireland had the second highest tobacco prices in the EU, with prices almost twice the EU average.
They would also like to make people aware that resources are in place to help them kick the habit.
‘Tobacco Free Ireland’ outlines the Government’s goal to have a tobacco-free Ireland by 2025.
Donal Buggy, Head of Services and Advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society said: “We need to send a strong signal that the Government is serious about reaching its target of a Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025.
“To do this we need to follow the example of Australia, where significant spikes in excise duty, next to policies such as plain packaging, have seen a dramatic fall in the smoking rate to 12.8% by the middle of 2016. In Ireland, the smoking rate is just under 20%”
Speaking at the British Thoracic Oncology Conference in Dublin recently, Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University, Western Australia and tobacco expert said, “In Australia, as in Ireland, Big Tobacco is losing battle after battle in the political arena, in the law courts, and in the court of public opinion.
“We are described by the tobacco industry as “the darkest market in the world”. Ireland and Australia have taken similar comprehensive approaches to reduce smoking, which remains our largest preventable cause of death and disease.
“It’s pleasing to see that the Irish Government has continued to raise taxes on tobacco products as this is the most effective way of ensuring that people quit.
“I hope that Ireland, which leads the world on smoke free legislation, will follow Australia’s example on tax and push for even bigger increases in excise duty later this year.”
The HSE run Quit.ie is there to help if you’re a smoker and would like some free help to kick the habit.
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