Minister for Health (Deputy Stephen Donnelly): I move:

(1) THAT for the purposes of the tax charged by virtue of section 72 of the Finance Act 2005 (No. 5 of 2005), that Act be amended, with effect as on and from 28 September 2022, by substituting the following for Schedule 2 to that Act (as amended by section 40 of the Finance Act 2021 (No. 45 of 2021)):

“SCHEDULE 2

RATES OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TAX

(With effect as on and from 28 September 2022)

Description of Product

Rate of Tax

Cigarettes …. .... .... …. ....

Rate of tax at­—

(a) except where paragraph (b) applies, €402.32 per thousand together with an amount equal to 8.73 per cent of the price at which the cigarettes are sold by retail, or

(b) €452.52 per thousand in respect of cigarettes sold by retail where the rate of tax would be less than that rate had the rate been calculated in accordance with paragraph (a).

Cigars …. .... .... …. .... ....

Rate of tax at €454.071 per kilogram.

Fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes …. .... .... …. .... ....

Rate of tax at €436.842 per kilogram.

Other smoking tobacco …. .... ....

Rate of tax at €315.014 per kilogram.

(2) IT is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).

This resolution provides for excise duty increases on tobacco products with effect from midnight tonight. The increase amounts to 50 cent, inclusive of VAT, on a packet of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category, together with pro rata increases for other tobacco products. The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes in the most popular price category, assuming the full increase is passed through to the final retail price, will increase to €15.80. The excise duty component of this price will be €9.43 and the total tax inclusive of VAT will be €12.38. This represents 78% of the price of a packet of 20 cigarettes. The pro rata increase on the price of a typical pouch of roll-your-own tobacco will increase by 69 cent to a price of €22.69.

Ireland is committed to a policy of high taxation on tobacco. We are committed to this in order to encourage people to quit smoking, particularly younger people, and so they do not start smart smoking in the first place. I am delighted to say the policy is working. In 2007, 29% of people in Ireland were daily smokers. By contrast, the latest Healthy Ireland figures for 2021 show that the figure has dropped to 16%. The initiatives of taxation and other public health measures are working. Increasing tobacco product taxation is an important public health policy measure to continue this downward trend in smoking in Ireland. Our objective is to have a tobacco-free Ireland by 2025.

With regard to raising revenue, the increase in tobacco product tax and the minimum excise duty is estimated to contribute €54.3 million in a full year. I see this resolution as an important part of the Government's policy to encourage people to give up smoking or, indeed, not start smoking in the first place.