Government approval was received last May to begin the process of introducing standardised packaging of tobacco products in Ireland. Work is progressing on the development of draft heads of a bill to regulate the retail packaging of tobacco products. An interdepartmental Steering Group on Standardised Packaging has also been established to oversee the implementation of a project plan in this regard.
The introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products in one of a number of measures which will be implemented in order to reduce smoking in our society. These measures are outlined in the policy document Tobacco Free Ireland which I launched earlier this month. The two key themes underpinning the report are protecting children and the denormalisation of smoking.
The report sets a target for Ireland to be tobacco free (i.e. with a prevalence rate of less than 5%) by 2025.