Smoking currently costs the Irish taxpayer between €1 and €2 billion a year to provide health services to smokers. But behind the financial cost is the human cost, with an estimated 5,500 people a year dying from smoking-related diseases and many more suffering from conditions caused by smoking.

As one of his last acts as Health Minister, Dr James Reilly introduced the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill, which will introduce standardised, plain cigarette packaging as part of his goal to make Ireland a smoke free country by 2025. A rather admirable albeit naïve objective. Although this lofty goal may not be reached, any measure to reduce the level of smoking in Ireland is most welcome.

Plain cigarette packaging has thus far only been introduced in one country worldwide, Australia, where cigarettes are now sold in plain, olive-coloured packaging, in same-size boxes with uniform typeface and large health warnings. Due to the limited application of plain packaging there is little concrete evidence to attest its efficacy.