419. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 107 to 110, inclusive, of 9 October 2014, the consultations held in respect of the issues raised in the detailed opinions submitted by EU member states; the input from other Departments into the preparation of his Department's response to the European Commission; if he shares any of the concerns raised by EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48023/14]

Minister for Health (Deputy Leo Varadkar): As the Deputy will be aware, Government approval was received on 19th November 2013 to proceed with drafting the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013. The legislation has now been passed by the Seanad and Second Stage of the Bill concluded in the Dáil on 2nd October 2014.   

The Bill was formally notified to the Commission and to Member States under the EU Technical Standards Directive (98/34/EC) and the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) on 17th   June 2014. As the Deputy has noted, detailed opinions on the proposed measures have been received from a number of Member States. As the detailed opinions in question cannot be released for publication, I do not propose to discuss their contents at this time. The detailed opinion documents are currently being considered by officials in my Department and a response is being drafted in consultation with other relevant Government Departments.   

The Commission and Member States had until 18th September to comment or provide detailed opinions on the proposed measures. For this reason, the standstill period has increased by three months, i.e. until 18th December 2014. The legislative process cannot continue until after this standstill period.