Minister for Health Simon Harris and Minister of State at the Department of Health Catherine Byrne today welcomed the publication of the 2017 Annual Report on the Tobacco Free Ireland Action Plan.

Tobacco Free Ireland was launched under the Healthy Ireland framework in 2013 and sets a target for Ireland to be tobacco free (that is, with a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5%) by the year 2025. A high level action plan for Tobacco Free Ireland was published in March 2015 and one of these actions committed the Department of Health to publish an annual report on the implementation of the plan.

Commenting on the Report, Minister Harris said, “I am delighted to see the progress that has been made to date in the implementation of the recommendations in Tobacco Free Ireland.  That the World Health Organisation (WHO) awarded the Department of Health a prestigious World No Tobacco Day Award for its achievements in the area of tobacco control in 2017 is testament to the work being carried out. Most people who smoke wish they had never started smoking and want to stop, for themselves and for their families. That is why we must continue to prioritise and enhance the supports and encouragement people need to quit smoking once and for all or to never take up the habit in the first place.”

• 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.

Minister Byrne commented, “All of these achievements will help us in our goal of making Ireland tobacco free by 2025 and I commend the work of the Department, the Health Service Executive and the NGO community for their work in this regard. 

Smoking is the greatest single cause of preventable illness and premature death in Ireland, killing almost 6,000 people a year. On a positive note we have seen a significant and continued reduction in smoking prevalence in children which tells us that we are on the right track in how we are tackling that part of the problem. However 22% of the population are current smokers, 18% smoke daily and 4% smoke occasionally, these figures underscore the need to implement all the recommendations in Tobacco Free Ireland.”