Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 June 2016
44. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Finance the revenue that would be raised by introducing a sugar tax on sugary drinks, as proposed by the Irish Heart Foundation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15124/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for a Partnership Government states that increased public spending and reductions in personal taxes will be funded through, among other things, a new tax on sugar sweetened drinks.
I would draw the Deputy's attention to the General Excise Duties Tax Strategy Group papers of 2014 and 2015 which examine issues surrounding a tax on sugar sweetened drinks. These papers are available on my Department's website. The TSG papers outline the advantages of imposing a volumetric tax, rather than an ad valorem tax of 20% as initially proposed by the Irish Heart Foundation. A volumetric tax is imposed as a specific amount per litre of product, as opposed to an ad valorem rate imposed on the final retail price of product. As a volumetric tax would be based on the volume of the actual product rather than its price, it is applied evenly to multipacks, large volume SSD bottles and cheaper 'own-brand' SSD products, as it is to more expensive branded products, and therefore is more effective from a public health point of view. France, Hungary, Finland and Belgium all impose volumetric taxes on SSD, and the UK proposes to introduce a volumetric tax on sugar sweetened drinks from April 2018.
The revenue raised by such a tax will depend on, among other things, the rate at which it is set, and the types of drinks included within its scope. These issues are budgetary matters which will be determined through the budgetary process.
