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Tougher EU rules were brought in this week on cigarette packaging while menthol cigarettes were banned.
All this while Minister for Health James Reilly wants Ireland tobacco-free by 2025.
With the Budget coming this week, columnist Aaron McKenna argued this morning that the Government’s policy including tax increases on cigarettes are proving ineffective and could lead to criminals benefiting more from black market sales.
Today we ask, are repeated tax increases on tobacco fair?:
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I’m a smoker and would rather a tax on cigarettes which affects smokers, than cuts to children’s allowance or pensions which affect far more. However, a higher tax on the biggest earners would be fairer again. And I do believe more people will just buy cigarettes from people who smuggle them in.
100% on the money there.
Smoker yes, wish to quit – yes, trying to quit yes. Pay more taxes on cig’s NO, will I buy ‘Duty Free’ definitely. Lisa you are dead right.
Alas we know the government is trying to find more ways of gaining tax, but if they used the money generated to help the country rather than feed their fat salaries, I wouldn’t feel so bad.
I agree with that, in terms of ‘tax here instead of cut there’, but I disagree with this overall. If govt is going to tax us to raise money, call a spade a spade. Those in govt who actually believe they have an obligation to tell me what I am allowed to do, if it hurts no one but me, need to pull their interfering hands out of my free will and go volunteer at a hospice or something.
On the ball the only ones getting effected will be the shops as the black market grows. It’s a bullshit term that the price discourages people from smoking the only way to cut down on smoking is early eduction and proper education on the effects of smoking giving by people who have suffered from the effects and not some straight laced dept head they bring in to talk to children, along with that awful packaging of lungs and stuff falling out that alone would put me off.
Why do we continue to advocate for sticking it to higher earners?
At the minute, they are bent over the table with taxes
And the more revenue we collect, the more power we appropriate to the Dáil, so do we want those dysfunctional people running more of our lives????
Ok, I’m confused. So you’re saying we shouldn’t collect revenue? What will be used to fund the country then? Magic beans? The country needs money but I believe cuts should start at the top with those who can most afford it.
Agreed Lisa, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer in this recession. That’s wrong and those that can afford to pay should pay. We’re supposed to be a society.
As a smoker, I wish they’d ban them outright, I’ve tried so many times to quit but my willpower is pathetic. I hate them! I wish there was something that would switch off the smoker part of my brain. Increasing taxes is useless, we’ll just get them DF, I wouldn’t buy on street corner because you just don’t know what your getting and thankfully I’m not that stupid yet.
I gave up smoking over 20 years ago when I was broke. As for taxing high earners, how the hell do you think they became high earners in the first place? It was not by sitting on their arses feeling sorry for themselves
As opposed to the rest of us Morticia? How many builders etc in this country ended up out of work through no fault of their own? Was it because they didn’t work hard? Or because some of the highest earners in this country screwed up the country so badly that everything collapsed? I have worked in this country for 20 years and while I’ll never begrudge anyone the profession they chose, at a time when the country is on its knees, they should have to support it and have to manage like the rest of us.
How many €100,000 a year boys and girls does it take to support the average Journalista? How much tax are they paying as it is? In the UK the top 1% pay over 30% of the tax and here the Irish Tax Institute says the tax burden is spread unfairly across the working population.
Workers here are subject to the higher rate of income tax on more of their salary than our European counter-parts.
Earnings of more than €32,000 are taxed at 42% here, while in France top earners are not subject to the higher tax rate until their salaries pass the €186,000 mark.
Don’t confuse highly educated workers with speculators and dodgers such as Wallace and co.
Once when Brendan Behan told a toucher to eff off the scrounger started slagging him by shouting ‘ I remember the time when you had nothing Behan’ to which Brendan replied ‘ Not as well as I do’
Michael, because they could create over 500 avgerage wage jobs based on TD’s and ministers alone. Broaden that out to include senior civil and public servants plus all the advisors and pr agencies it could be another 1000 to 1500. Asking families on the dole or minimum wage to pay more through tax increases or service cuts is treating them like imbeciles. If a member of the ruling class can’t see that they are taking the rescourses of poor people to maintain the rich. Everyone is entitled to a share of the national cake but no one is entitled to take more than a multiple or two of the average, if you think you are above average its arrogance and not intelligence you are charging for.
Well, to me Morticia, it doesn’t matter how a person makes their money, but they make it, and as such should also feel the sting. Are you saying that some high earners have earned the right to be on the pigs back while lesser mortals struggle? Let’s be honest, how many in our government earn their wages? For every genuinely educated and skilled person earning a fortune, I’ll bet you’ll find 10 who don’t deserve to be continuously well off while others really struggle. And if other countries have an ever more messed up system than us, I hardly think that’s anything to aspire to.
Communism does not work. Forget all this nonsense about earnings as it is the disposable income at the end of the day that shows who is getting the benefits from the state.
If you can afford to smoke Lisa then you have not reached the poverty level.
Ooh personal comments? Very educated that. What I spend my money, that I earn, on is my business. I forfeit other luxuries to smoke which again, is my choice. Some of us can see beyond ourselves, however, to the conditions that some in this country are living in. I understand though, that some have never had the same financial struggles as others and sure, we should all just shut up, work our butts off, pay the taxes, never have a luxury like the deserving people do and just be happy we’re not living in huts at the side of the road. Gotcha
Turliffe, I believe Alan Carr’s book giving up smoking the easy way’, is meant to be very good. He advises that you continue smoking as normal but by the time you have finished the book you will have chucked the habit. He teaches you about the addiction, I know a few people who gave up after reading it and never craved cigarettes afterwards.
Chip on shoulder day at the Journal.ie.
Some think that you get up some morning and get a €100k job after breakfast. Some think that they alone have had to struggle and that they were kept out of the top jobs even though they worked their butt off to get an education and then took on responsibility and long hours and then more study .
Right now we are hearing about doctors working ridiculous hours and everyone is behind them in their strike but if they reach Consultant level then they earn €180,000+ and the journalistas then want a share of this?
Morticia, this country is struggling. The money has to come from somewhere. Why should it always be from the normal joe soap workers? Those high paid workers have been rewarded already for their education and skill by being highly paid. Why should there be such a divide?? Actually don’t answer that because I’ve had enough of this debate. Tbh you make my head hurt.
Lisa, I presume as you advocate that the high earners should pay more tax, you’re not a high earner yourself?
Tax the Bejazus out of them. Ridiculous Ridiculous habit. Imagine there was smoking in all public places a few years ago. Bonkers. People make themselves really sick then put their hands in our pockets to take care of them while they fade away. ( Smoker for 18 years)……..Nuts !
No I’m not William, and in case this is a “if you were you wouldn’t be saying that”, I am a smoker and already said I’d prefer an extra tax on cigarettes than cuts to allowances.
Fair play Lisa, well said. Beautiful lips by the way!
Eh? Thanks Paul lol
Lisa, smoking can give you cancer of the mouth. So make the best use of those lips while you can :)
True William, luckily there doesn’t seem to be a cancer of the fingers so don’t worry, you’ll still see me here :)
William you Charlton. As long as we have beneficial typists like Lisa who speak honestly, we cannot go to far wrong?
Ever tried hypnosis? A book by Susan Hepburn: How to smoking in an hour. €15 on amazon! Worked for me 3 years ago….
In Tazmania they have passed a bill that effective jan 1st 2014, it will be illegal for any born after the year 2000 to purchase tobacco. That is, anyone 13 years old or younger will never be able to legally buy tabacco. That is a brilliant way to prevent the next generation of smokers from ever starting and gradually over 20 or so years, eliminate smoking permanently. Now there’s a well thought out plan!
Thanks Joan, I just got his book so fingers crossed! :)
Mary Alagna: “if it hurts no one but me, need to pull their interfering hands out of my free will and go volunteer at a hospice or something.”
Well since taxpayers will be paying for your stay in a hospice as you die slowly of lung cancer it WILL hurt the rest of us – well our pockets anyway.
Mark, believe it or not smokers are tax payers too. Some of us even work and shop in this country paying even more tax. And I’m sure no smoker will begrudge one day their tax money going towards drink related illnesses either. Fair is fair after all ;)
Paul, I’m what Jack Charlton???
Lisa moderate drinking is beneficial to your health. ANY amount of smoking can kill you.
The big question is if Reilly gets his way to have Ireland tobacco free by 2025 (doubtful) what will they hit to recover the lost tax revenue?
It will be made up by the reduction in costs to the healthcare budget from smoking related diseases.
Tobacco free? are you kidding me, the government are making a mint from taxes on tobacco, if they are so bad for your health why haven’t they being banned yet? alot of lost tax revenue that’s why!
Not until every existing smoker has already popped their clogs, let’s be honest. Cancer won’t suddenly disappear the day they ban smoking. It’ll be a long time of lost revenue before any savings will be seen.
By pushing up taxes they’re only encouraging people to buy them on the black market.
And cancelled entirely by extra pensions to the population as a whole, as life expectancy increases.
This will be 20 years down the line though, and politicians rarely think more than 3 years ahead (let alone past the next election)
Simple solutions to complex problems tend to lead to unexpected consequences.
Richard…. Prove that with facts. Verifiable ones, not a link to a news article.
Maybe visitors to Shannon Airport? Foot & Mouth TAX
But those savings will not materialise for 10 to 15 years. People who smoke today are funding the healthcare costs of previous generations, stopping smoking tmw will not affect the cost of treating tobacco related diseases for many many years.
How can people think that smoking does not impact on others. Smokers cost the state over 2bn a year and block hospital beds from responsible people who deserve them.
If you choose to smoke then you should not be entitled to the use of public hospitals.
Ok Seanie, and how much revenue do we generate? But fair enough, if it’s about the money smokers cost and not what they contribute, should unemployed people be refused hospital treatment? What about people who’ve overdosed on illegal substances? What life exactly should people lead in order to deserve hospital treatment?
@richard keogh. A tad naive there Richard. NONE of the tax collected on cigs, alcohol etc re ‘social habit’ items is ring-fenced to fund the Healthcare system here. It’s mostly borrowed.
Tobacco free is an unrealistic ambition.
Also the residual effect of smoking means health service will be impacted for 20+ years after reduction in smokers.
What are they tiring to do? Drive smoking underground like class A drugs.
Then you will have people suggesting to legalise it so it can be taxed.
It won’t work and the government know it.
Yes smoking is bad but people do have a choice. You choose your own vice and as long as you are educated about the risks you should be allowed to smoke of you want.
If you don’t like smoking, don’t smoke. Everyone has an opinion on this and only smokers have a right to.
You don’t see pioneers campaigning for higher booze tax and trying to chastise people for enjoying a pint.
I don’t smoke cigarettes but I enjoy a cigar once a week. I know they are bad for me and that’s why I limit my consumption. I CHOOSE my vice and no government should tell me I can’t do that.
What you say is all well and good but the cost to society is the massive health costs associated with smoking related illness.
Would you be in favour of smoking related illness being funded solely from the smokers themselves?
The taxes raised from smoking do not come even close to the costs associated with the habit.
Well-said.
“You don’t see pioneers campaigning for higher booze tax”???? Oh yes you do.
Then let them tax Tayto and Cadbury and chips and pizza and coca cola and so on, too. Let them make proper nutrition training mandatory. Let’s make it illegal to watch TV more than 1 hr a day. Let’s monitor alcohol consumption and tax anyone who drinks more than the recommended amount per week. Let’s make going for walks a requirement. Sure, let me pay a bit more if I have a smoking related illness. Except I am already paying more because I work and thus pay for my GP visits.. so let’s only do that if you’re unemployed, perhaps?
When someone proves the extra tax goes directly to health care, and when I don’t have to wait 4 months to be seen publicly on a condition that may tunr out to have been time-sensitive, then perhaps I’ll agree this is a good idea.
It’s bullshit.
Let me clarify my ‘well said’ was to Conor’s original comment.
At the end of the day, smokers are addicted to nicotine. They know people will pay the difference and it’s more money to them. Easy to hear em talk about how it’s damaging health etc. We all know some of em smoke and are on enough money not to worry about price difference.
heh, I smoke, I work, I lost money to both pay cuts and tax hikes, I can’t afford to pay more anymore.
“What you say is all well and good but the cost to society is the massive health costs associated with smoking related illness.”
Quick question Eric,how much do smokers cost the health service exactly? I’ve seen and heard alot of people say that smokers cost the health service more than they pay in tax and excise, but nobody has been able to give any kind of figure as to how much it actually is.
I can find out how much cigs and tobacco add to the economy through taxes, excise etc, which is around the €1.2 billion a year. Suddenly banning smoking will take that €1.2 billion out of the economy, but the health effects will still there. Not to mention that with that amount of money taken out of the economy will have a big impact on the overall economy.
Damien, if cigarettes disappeared overnight the economy wouldn’t lose the €1.2 billion, people would spend it on something else that wouldn’t kill half of them.
Correct William, the 2 billion or whatever is spent annually on cigarettes will be spent on other things, except there is a strong chance that this new product won’t destroy their health and cost the state billions annually on treatment.
The financial argument for not banning cigarettes is flawed.
Damien, you asked for the cost of smokers to the health system, as you know well that figure is possible determine. But logic may get you the following figure;
Approx 15 billion is spend on public healthcare. It is commonly quoted that over a quarter of all deaths are smoking related, therefore it is fair to assume that at least 25% of the healthcare budget is smoking related. That’s almost 4 billion, a lot more that the 1.2 billion raised.
if they put the price of smokes up again then I’ll be buying them illegally
It is still legal to smoke. In Ireland smokers are treated like criminals.
I don’t smoke but I know a number of people who do and I’ve seen some try and try again to quit smoking and it is very hard. One or two were successfully for a little bit and then went back on them, some managed to quit for good and others never managed more than a day or two.
Smoking is an addiction and no matter how high the price gets there will still be some people addicted to it who are finding it very difficult to quit.
Increasing the tax every budget is just profiting on people’s addiction, if the government really wanted people to quit they would reduce the tax on champix and other aids.
If the government actually wanted people to quit they would be pumping money into programs to help them quit. their plans on e cigarettes shows that they are protectin the tobacco industrys/tax reillys plans are just smoke and mirrors. Same as with their recent outrage about arthurs day its just propaganda to butter us up for a buget targeting the poorer sectors of society where drinking and smoking demographics are traditionally higher
How about repetitive cuts on enda and Co, they have felt no pain.
Been an x smoker the answer is yes they should concentrate on getting d cyclist off d footpaths which is more dangerous to pedestrians
What are you talking about?
Wot has that got to do with anything???
I gave up smoking 6 weeks ago, I finally realised how disgusting they are and how much damage they had been doing to my health. I smoked heavily for about 12 years, then started to reduce, but still felt like sh1t and it only dawned on me when I actually stopped that it was the cigs that made me feel rotten.
I have a lot more energy than I used to have, I don’t feel as tired after a demanding week in work, I can actually take a fairly good breadth of fresh air and hope that will continue to get better, I can smell and taste more. I can spend time with my family and friends rather than thinking when I’m going to light up again.
I got seriously freaked out at the thought of getting ill due to what I was inhaling, and I’m under no illusions, the damage could already be done, I just might not know it yet.
But how could I explain to my kids if I did get ill, that I had done this to myself, how could I look my wife in the eye and admit to her that I should have listened to her all those years when she wanted me to stop?
I have known people who have died quite young because of their free choice to intentionally poison themselves, I do not want to become one of those people, I don’t want to leave my kids without a father.
So yeah, you might all say that it’s about choice, but with choice comes responsibility and if we make our choices selfishly we risk destroying the very things that are most important to us.
Inspiring and reminds me of how much energy I had when I didn’t smoke… but it is a personal responsibility and it ought to remain so.
@larry, I completely agree with you. I quit about 6 years ago, after 20 years of smoking and I only turned 40 this year. My father died of lung cancer when I was in my mid twenties, only 5 months after his mother from throat cancer. My mother died 6 years ago. So my son won’t meet either of them, and he has a very hard time understanding why they are not here. It is bad for health, no matter how much we don’t want to hear it when we smoke.
Smoking is a dirty dirty habit.
Profound.
When will the gov make Champex free to people to help them give up cigarette
Interesting little fact for you then. If you have any history of depression they won’t give you that medication… care to guess why?
Champex original application was a experimental treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder, after the clinical trial, one of the conclusive findings were most of the GI’s quit smoking. Some people can suffer severe side effects, from depression to suicide ideation. A possible case of the cure being worse than the disease. Seems to be very successful though!
Why not tax the fatties as-well? Obesity , at this stage probably costs the government more in health spending. If you are going to tax us smokers out of the habit then tax the chips as-well.
I voted no to this because most people I know my age buy cigarettes abroad and would not be able to tell you the cost here . Older people who have been smoking for years tend to buy cigarettes here . I don’t think its fair to make them so expensive when people are clearly addicted and I’m sure if they had a magic wand to cure them , everyone of them would use it.
Duty on cigarettes is simply a tax on the poor and we have long reached the point where further increases in the price of a packet have only a negligible affect on deterring smoking. Further price rises only fuel black market operations. (http://www.hse.ie/eng/about/Who/TobaccoControl/Research/)
I am not a smoker but it does seem to me the Government profit greatly from this addiction. They pay lip service only to the dangers of this habit. They are constantly making noises about how much smoking related illnesses are costing the H.S.E. Actually it is not true. Pure smoke screen, Diabetes, Cancer (most are not smoking related) and Heart Disease are the biggest budget eaters. I work within the H.S.E. and see all this daily. How interesting people don,t want to see alcohol taxed higher, you want to see the damage drink does to the body and the accidents it causes. Another drain on the H.S.E. budget. If people want to smoke let them, they can no longer smoke in public buildings anyway. Freedom of choice is being fast eroded and these people pay highly for their choice.
Ask the question, where would the health service ( or the goverment) be with out all the taxes smokers have paid over the years? We have a €2-300 million over spend, in the health service budget for this year, no matter what the spin the Minster puts on it, rubbishing smokers and making them pay more will only bring in more cheap and tax free cigarettes from Europe, the way only criminals are the only people that benefit from a ruse in tax.
Such a stupid idea that to tax one commodity to such an extent over others regardless of the damage they do to your health.
If every item share a middle ground of tax then certain items wouldn’t be so both expensive and dependant on to sustain our economy. Also the polling options show how biased the author is to this certain agenda, but that doesn’t surprise me the government aren’t using high tax prices as a deterrent for health reasons. It couldn’t be more obvious that they can profit so highly and just use the scapegoat tactic as always, rather than cutting their overpriced personal income despite the fact they do as much for this country as a child with a colouring book.
The smoking tax is extremely regressive and has a detrimental effect on the poorest and most vulnerable of our people.
Absolutely, there should be no tax ceiling when it comes to cigarettes, I’m sure glad I don’t smoke.
Jezz Jazz, it looks like you were sucking an exhaust pipe :)
This is taxing the poor…
How many people in disadvantaged areas do you think smoke????
I don’t smoke anymore and it took me 20+ attempts over 25 years to finally kick my addiction.
Couldn’t be high enough on them!! However please leave the wine alone that bottle on a Friday night is what I look forward to all week!
What about the knock on effect to the countries finances.less tax intake the job losses for the people who make,deliver,sell and down to the people who fix and go around stocking machines.im sure when all those taxes and job losses are taken into account it will far outway the medical savings.fair enough control smoking in confined spaces but smoking is a choice
Flawed logic, if smoking is banned the lost revenue will be made up from increased spending elsewhere, so the gov still gets the revenue but the cost in both society and financial terms in treating smoking related illness will decrease.
Eric – as long as no-one can actually pin down in amount of Euros how much the cost of smoking related is, I think that point is not valid. It’s easy to say the cost is higher than the tax intake.
I don’t doubt is a large amount being spent in treatment, but taxing it out of existence is just plain stupid because it won’t cure the actual problem.
Controlled sale could be an idea f.ex. from pharmacies who will also be in a position to advise how to stop smoking at the same time. If people are given a choices between what is good for you plus cheaper versus something that’s damaging your health and more expensive’ they’ll tend to choose the cheaper choice in the end.
While we are at it – how about taxing alcohol, fizzy drinks and greasy foods more aggressively – from a health perspective they on the same level in terms of damage to health and associated costs to HSE.
I never smoked a cigarette of drank alcohol in my life and yet I am suffering from serious heart disease which my cardiologist assures was caused by cigarette smoke. I worked in a environment where other people smoked and my wife smokes. Can someone explain why smokers thinks it is a good to damage other peoples health as well as their own. My wife didn’t smoke when we got married but fell in with a crowd of smokers and thought it was a good idea to start.
It’s crap to be forced to inhale second-hand smoke, and though I miss the days I didn’t have to go outside to smoke, I totally appreciate the fairness of that. You shouldn’t have to inhale anyone’s second-hand smoke, but that doesn’t mean no one should be able to smoke.
After getting screwed by the government yet again in this budget i will def need a cigarette…..
Then why is there no REHABS to help smokers as IT IS THE STRONGEST ADDICTION ON THE PLANET.
Billions in taxes because it is the STRONGEST addiction and the money is wasted on massive advertising companies to stop smoking. I hope people stop smoking because when they do then watch the cries and screams when wage taxes rise to cover the same costs smokers pay for heart lung and all other diseases. This runs into Billions and this Irish Government had its greedy share of it.
Cities are totally polluted by traffic yet this could be stopped but diesel and fuel cars are STILL being manufactured, The Irish Government love to hear any ways of hiking up tobacco costs due to those hypocrites who drive these diesel and fuel manufactured cars, well your turn is NEXT MOTOR TAX, INSURANCE, NCT and other INVENTED TAXES, besides tobacco will become illegal eventually and driven under ground and you family members can end up in prison after they had paid taxes. these same people against smokers push their CHILDREN in pushchairs whose little faces are almost stuck up the exhaust pipes while they go shopping and talking to friends in the streets. What a hypocritical world we live in all being FORCED to agree and disagree for the count rather than the TRUTH they want your money.
If the government wanted the country smoke free then why not just ban the sale of tobacco, current smokers can apply for a subscription for cigarettes. That way current smokers can smoke the heads of them selfs and no one else can start.
It is just another way of bringing in money to pay for the running of the nation and the paying for the bank fiasco.
If they used money generated by the sale of cigarettes to pay for treatments to get people to stop smoking and lowering the taxes on Nicoretes and other such products, I would believe that they wanted to help people to stop smoking, but just putting prices up is just another way of taking more money out of peoples pockets.
This doesn’t work. Black market will flourish. Idiots in government can’t get it.
Get rid of them altogether. They are such an expensive habit as it is. Keep hiking the prices and hopefully people will give them up! Like its 10 euro per box!! How people afford to smoke is beyond me!!
Yeah, just keep hiking up the price and hope for the best. I’m sure no criminal organisation will fill the demand for cheaper cigarettes. And I’m sure that even if they did, the gangs would settle turf wars amicably and not spend the ludicrous profits on guns etc.
You start doing without other things. You get paid and you set money aside for smokes until next payday. Then you look at everything else.
How people afford drink is beyond me,and its god awful habit.Drunks falling around when i am outside having a smoke its disgusting.Puking on the paths near me,pissing on walls on the street,cursing and roaring and falling against me.and the stink of drink makes me sick.
Keep hiking the prices on drink hopefully people will stop.
It would cost more to ban smoking with the government been taken to court by tobacco companies, shop keepers and pro smoking groups. The basic fact is that no amount of smoking is good for you, unlike a daily small glass if wine if you want to compare to other substances that are legal as well. The bad health effects of smoking are not apparent until years later. And there is always one person you can point to who does not get ill, but they just won the health lottery. Half, 1 in 2 smokers WILL die from illness related to smoking, and that is a fact. Does it effect others? There has been a drop in premature births in all countries where there are smoking bans in place in restaurants, bars etc. Coincidence, maybe, but I think it is an interesting study. If you are addicted, ok, but nicotine is not the danger in smoking, change your delivery system, there are so many alternatives out there now, try a few to find the one for you, it’s not easy, but who said anything worthwhile was easy.
I’ve seen the 1 in 2 ads, but how many people in general die from smoking related diseases? look, everyone knows smoking is bad for you but I get fed up with broad sweeping statements like that and ” every cig takes 5 mins off your life”. They didn’t encourage me to quit, if anything they pushed me the other way. I don’t smoke anymore (thank God) but if I did, I’d be getting them in cartons from the bloke in the pub.
May be a coincidence, but I’ve found that 100% of people die anyway.
Ah ha! hahahaha
Ill listen to reillys thoughts on this when he loses weight as an obese health minister I cant take him seriously hes a laughing stock. Jus cause hes an agenda with people smoking , cn I ban him cause hes obese. Also smoke prices are to high the european court of justice keeps fining us every year and wen we dont bring in regulations that we have to we get fined again. Obv there not doin therd job r we wouldnt be loosin millions to fines in court
james your a dip stick ..
Whatever happened about ireland breaking the eu competition laws regards the price of cigarettes? Why is it that we are paying nearly twice as much as other countries i.e. Spain, France. It is easily seen that the gov are preying off peoples addiction. More people will buy be forced to buy on the black market
The lower classes have it hard enough already without taxing the cigs more.
smokers should not be allowed into hospitals, simple as
Using that logic,neither should drinkers,over-eaters,motorists who cause an accident,sport related injuries etc.
Ridiculous Comment.
You shouldn’t be allowed air.
Luck Ford is representative of many internet commentators, who have nothing better to do with their time than spout vitriol and bitterness. What a ludicrous remark. If you have nothing of any value or though to contribute then take your verbal dung elsewhere.
accidental red thumb by me there. green thumb! green thumb!
yes
…ye or alcoholics,drug users,over weight people the list could go on and on…. Outline the list of criteria you suggest for a person to receive hospital treatment or care?3 glasses of wine but have 6-out ye get. Is it ok if a smoker receives treatment for broken leg or is this an across the board ‘shouldnt be allowed in hospitals; you clown.
Luck Ford (Ex-pat) stay away, whatever is on ye face, we do not want you here… you might have an Irish name , but comments like yours should be left in an Indian scabies camp, quite stupid.
The majority of tobacco plants are grown / shipped via the states, as an EX-Irish man surly you are wiser than to throw stones from a green house.
I don’t have a dog in this race, but people should think for a minute. When they stamp out smoking and make you produce a social services card to purchase alcohol (which is coming) what are they going to take from us next? There are so many rules in society now. Are we any better off for it?
King James I described smoking as ‘hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs’. This is a very insightful remark especially considering that it was made around 1604 when the harmful effects had yet to be scientifically proven. This odious product deserves to be taxed again and again. Smugglers will not stop smuggling because one product becomes less beneficial to their illegal rackets.
The more tax they put on cigarettes the less revenue they will take in, all they are doing is forcing people to buy elsewhere .
Luv this country…. Let us sell you something with a warning label on it stating it will kill you!! Let’s do one better n tax u on your road to death… Ohhhh n while your driving to impending doom beware of the sign that states “dangerous junction ahead”…. Can’t be arsed removing it but hey were taxing you for using our dangerous roads 2
For those who voted no,smoking is awful habit? I bet you lot gorge down the drink like your in the desert with no water.
Hypocrites.
Next will be after the drink then you will see them cry like babies lol
It seems to me,thousands of people are addicted to smokes,and no matter how the try,they cant give up.The goverment,on behalf of those people,should sue the tobacco companys. When you see old people attached to oxagen unable to breath without,thats the reality for some smokers.
i am smoking again did give up for 7 years my choice to smoke again the only 1 i harm is me i reared my kids like a lot of people its something we enjoy yes i will buy them were ever i get them the cheapest at least we dont hold up a & e every weekend thats were money should be raised the drunk clinic medical card or none all drink related problems at a &e should be a set charge of 100 euro to be stopped out of there dole or wages
Could you try that again in English?
Better to tax a harmful habit of choice rather than to hit poor families for child benefit and so on.
The government tax tobacco and alcohol as it’s the easy option to generate funds. I would prefer it to higher tax on my income, at least then I’m choosing to give them my money, rather than them just taking it.
As for Ireland becoming tobacco-free by 2025, I didn’t realise we were in a dictatorship where people’s ability to choose their own path has been taken away #notonannystate
It is fair but it is driving the black market full speed
Tax the Bejazus out of them. Ridiculous Ridiculous habit. Imagine there was smoking in all public places a few years ago. Bonkers. People make themselves really sick then put their hands in our pockets to take care of them while they fade away. ( Smoker for 18 years)……..Nuts !
Do u drink? Tax the bajasis out of that! As the irreparable damage it dies to liver and amount of violence it causes, and over weight people as there a heapth hazard to themselves cant take care of themselves. So there all the same start lobbyin for the same tax on the other two above!!!!!!!!!!
They need to send undercover cops out to source illegal fags. Then a mandatory 10k fine for the sellers and 500 euro fine for the buyers. A kickback of 250 for informers would bring a few results too. Extra customs officers and all of the aforementioned measures could be financed by taxing proper fags. Anyone selling fags to minors should receive an automatic jail sentence.
As an ex-smoker, if your will power isn’t enough to quit, as least get enough will power to save up and fly to the Canaries, buy a years supply of smokes and fly home. Don’t pay these pr**ks in gov’t a cent more than necessary, and have a holiday while you’re at it….
Taxing the hell out of cigarettes doesn’t stop people from smoking, it’s just an excuse to increase the government’s revenue, it is solely about fixing the budget crisis… but ultimately who is going to pay? The tax hike will force people to find cheaper options. Illegal sellers are going to be very happy at smokers being targeted yet again. The pictures on cigarette boxes really insult our intelligence too. You don’t see a bottle of wine with pictures of mangled bodies in crashed cars, why is that? Yes, smoking is bad. If they want to stop us from one of our civil liberties as a free nation, as adults, why don’t they ban them totally? You know why, they are making a fortune off them! If they are using the money toward hospital resources or research show me the results. The health service here is total joke and is getting worse. It is so Condescending, to be constantly a target for taxation and being told ‘Smoking is bad’, ‘we will rob you and make you feel like we are doing it to benefit your health.’ Free choice is a thing of the past. That’s just my opinion.
Tax it out of existance. As one who smoked for 30 yrs, i can honestly say, i wish they were never invented. Thank god i am free of them now. Lets hope i didn’t leave it too late.
Personally I have never smoked, I am 100% against it but my uncle told me how he gave it up
So you know when you get a craving and u see someone smoking and your like “I wish I could have their cigarette” at the same time they are looking at u and saying I wish I was like him/her and wasn’t smoking
Gave up 19 months ago. Would hope that my kids simply couldn’t afford to start smoking.
I smoked for forty years. I am what is now considered a high earner. I smoked up to forty qa day. Should tabacco products be taxed? Yes to the hilt. But who should be taxed, obviously the companies and other outlets that sell these products and the users. The tax should be spread right across the board until it adequately covers the costs. What I pay taxes and social welfare adequately covers the costs related to two government dependent families who smoke and drink and raise their kids on government handouts. Could I pay more? Yes. Should I pay more? Your call. You speak of the government as if it were some entity that simply taxed and ran away with the money. I agree there has been some abuse, we have had to pay for the sins of many but don’t forget where the majority of the taxes collected goes. To the deserving I hope, to the needy, I hope, but there are many other categories of parasites living off the taxpayer that also benefit from the largesse of the high earners. I left school at sixteen, I worked hard to get where I am and I feel I owe it to nobody. Paying tax is a duty not a penaly for hard work. Rights end where duty begins; How many single parent families are simply the result of a one night stand and bedamned with the consequences. How many of the poor deprived jobless longterm, earn more than the working poor. Open your eyes folks the government is a choice made in elections, smoking also.
Yes its a way to earn revenue, people will still buy them.
I dont think any tax should be increases, the governments wages (TD’s, Ministers, the very high earners) should be cut by 20% across the board. Now im not saying the civil servants, they went through enough cuts already!
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