Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 October 2014
107. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to issues (details supplied) regarding the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38651/14]
View answer108. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to issues (details supplied) regarding the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38652/14]
View answer109. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to issues (details supplied) regarding the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38653/14]
View answer110. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to issues (details supplied) regarding the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014. [38654/14]
View answer135. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details regarding the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38650/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 107 to 110, inclusive, and 135 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, Government approval was received on 19 November 2013 to proceed with drafting the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013. The legislation has now been passed by the Seanad and Second Stage of the Bill concluded in the Dáil last week.
As the Deputy will also be aware, on 17 June 2014, the Bill was formally notified to the Commission and to Member States under the EU Technical Standards Directive (98/34/EC) and the Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU). On the same date, formal notification was made to the World Trade Organisation under the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement under the Technical Standards process. The Commission and Member States had until 18 September to comment or provide detailed opinions on the proposed measures. As the Deputy has noted, detailed opinions on the proposed measures have been received from a number of Member States. For this reason, the standstill period has increased by another three months, i.e. until 18 December 2014. The legislative process cannot continue until after this standstill period.
As the detailed opinions issued by the Member States in question cannot be released for publication, I do not propose to discuss their contents at this time. Ireland is now obliged to respond to the Commission in relation to the issues raised in the detailed opinions. These documents are currently being considered by officials in my Department.
