Considerable progress has been made and the action plan is being implemented as published. Whilst there is substantial detail in the updates provided, some of the key achievements in 2017 were:

• the receipt by the DOH of the WHO WNTD Award for its outstanding contribution to tobacco control,
• the completion of legislation to provide for standardised packaging of tobacco products,
• the transposition of European Commission Implementing Acts arising from the Tobacco Products Directive, continued engagement with the HSE and the European Commission in relation to the implementation of the Directive, participation in the development of European Commission Implementing Acts ontraceability and security feature systems for tobacco products,
• the continuation of an annual Healthy Ireland Survey and the Health Behaviour in School Children Study which will give up-to-date reliable data on the prevalence of smoking throughout the whole population,
• the publication of HIQA Health Technology Assessment of smoking cessation intervention,
• the development by the HSE of the new QUIT campaign and the enhancement of supports for smokers who wish to stop smoking,
• the engagement of Healthy Ireland with changing social norms around smoking,
• the proactive involvement of the NGO sector in supporting Tobacco Free Ireland actions, and
• the increase in price of tobacco products in Budget 2018.