First National Seminar on Taxation, Health and Tobacco held in Dublin today

Date: 12 June 2007

Press Statement from ASH Ireland
First National Seminar on Taxation, Health and Tobacco

The first ever National Seminar on Taxation, Health and Tobacco was held in Dublin today. (Conrad Hotel) The main focus of the seminar was on the possibility of removing tobacco products from our consumer price index (CPI). If tobacco products can be removed from our CPI – as has been done in other EU countries – this gives the government greater flexibility to increase tobacco prices - as related inflation increase will not then be an issue.

Professor Luke Clancy, Chairman of ASH Ireland said today, “There are significant advantages in taxing Tobacco. It is easy to administer, easy to justify on Public Health grounds and is guaranteed to increase tax take while reducing consumption. It is important for the Government to remove tobacco from CPI if they are serious about tobacco control and the denormalization of smoking. We do need our own research on this area, however, the link between significant price increase and reduction of smoking levels is well established. An increase in price of 10% will lead to a reduction of 4% in smoking levels - on average"

Minister for State at the Department of An Taoiseach, Mr Tom Kitt addressing the conference said, “We must continue to move with conviction to a point where the use of tobacco by adults is no longer seen by young people as normal or appropriate behaviour. I believe that this is a realisable objective that is now within sight. And I have every confidence that events such as the one you have organised here today will play no small part in bringing this objective to reality”
“Smoking is one of the biggest contributors to ill-health in our country. It is the leading cause of preventable death, not only here in Ireland, but
in the European Union. There is no doubt that the battle against tobacco
remains one of the most important public health challenges facing us.
Having led the momentum towards smoke-free workplaces across Europe and beyond, the challenge now, for us in Ireland is to build on this momentum”

Professor Gérard Dubois, Chairman of the French Alliance against tobacco said “In France we introduced a CPI without tobacco as far back as 1990. Since the introduction of a tobacco free CPI, tobacco prices have tripled – and between 1975 and 2005 we have reduced smoking prevalence in France by 50%.

Professor Charles Normand, an economist for Trinity College, spoke of the issue of the ‘Socio Economic Consequences of Tobacco in Society’. He said, “It is interesting to consider what would happen if all current spending on smoking were diverted to other spending ………… Switching spending from tobacco to more domestic uses would increase local domestic employment”.

ENDS
Further information contact:
Professor Luke Clancy, Chairman, ASH Ireland, 086 8364337
Wally Young, Young Communications, 01 6680530, 087 2471520

The seminar was organised by ASH Ireland in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation, Irish Cancer Society and the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society (R.I.F.T.F.S).